


Friends....with benefits?

by Raginage



Category: The Haunting of Bly Manor (TV)
Genre: Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fic written from Jamie's POV a majority of the time, Fluff and Humor, Friends With Benefits, I promise you'll enjoy it, I really like a jealous Jamie don't hate me okay, Jamie and Owen's friendship will be full of humorous banter, Jealousy, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-04
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:41:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27875514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raginage/pseuds/Raginage
Summary: (AU) Jamie finds herself flirting with the pizza delivery girl, Dani. After a couple of hangouts, Jamie finds out that Dani moved to England with a broken heart and while she's not looking to get caught up in anything serious, she is looking for someone she can have fun with, no strings attached. Turns out, Jamie and Dani feel the exact same way, until one of them doesn't.I really just wanted to write a fic that I could include a bit of everything in, y'know? Some drama, angst, jealousy, smut, fluff and loads of humour.
Relationships: Dani Clayton & Edmund O'Mara, Dani Clayton & Jamie
Comments: 50
Kudos: 159





	1. Chapter 1

Owen and Jamie sat in the living room of their shared two bedroom flat. Owen was sitting on their sofa, soaking in content as they watched the football game. Jamie had her laptop in front of her and was looking on Google for tips and tricks on planting a moonflower. Her ears perked up when she heard a soft grumble come from Owen.

"Hungry there, mate?" A devious smile slowly crept it’s way onto her face as she finally took her eyes off her computer screen.

"Yeah I guess you could say that." Owen raised an eyebrow at how cheerful Jamie was being today.

"I'm feeling pretty hungry myself to be honest. Want to order some food?" Jamie shifted herself on the couch, almost as if she was nervous about something.

Owen had a feeling he knew what Jamie was getting at, but he decided to make her struggle a bit longer. Watching Jamie fall apart under her nerves was something Owen rarely got to see given Jamie’s usual quick-witted smartass demeanor, but whenever the opportunity arose he found far too much amusement taking the piss out of her. He got up from the sofa and started to walk towards the kitchen. "I'll grab all the menus we have and we can go through them and get whatever we’re both feeling, yeah?"

"I was just thinking we could order a pizza?" Jamie quickly replied, making Owen stop dead in his tracks.

He turned around slowly, a massive smile stretched from ear to ear. "Oh really?" He asked with a hint of arrogance in his voice.

"Well yeah,” Jamie tried to play it cool. “It's quick and easy, and that's less time spent on us arguing over Chinese or Mexican." She replied nonchalantly.

"Jamie, I'm not stupid. We've gotten pizza three times this week and it's only Thursday." Owen eyed her suspiciously, a smug look on his face. Jamie felt her body tense, a blush creeping across her face. "Easy tiger, I totally get it. She’s cute," he acknowledged with a laugh.

"What are you talking about?" Jamie acted confused, trying to play off the embarrassment of Owen blatantly calling her out on her schoolgirl-like crush.

"Please, don't try that innocent "I have no idea what you're talking about" shite with me. I'm onto you." Owen scoffed, hopping over the couch and landing on the cushion beside his best friend. "You definitely want to get it on with the pizza delivery girl." He smiled, proud of his revelation.

"That’s absurd, you're clearly delusional." Her stomach was doing backflips and she could feel a bead of sweat collecting at the edge of her forehead.

"No you're right, i’m clearly mistaken. The fact that you've been ordering pizza almost every day since she started working at Papa John's is completely sane, and definitely in no way related to you fantasizing about an all day shag-a-thon with her." Owen smirked, getting more and more pleasure out of ruffling Jamie’s feathers.

"I just like the pizza there. They make real nice…dough." Wincing at herself for her less than witty response.

"Dough, you're going to go with…dough?" Owen replied flatly, seeing right through Jamie’s pathetic attempt at concealing her true intentions. "Screw it," he shook his head. Before Jamie could reply he continued on. "Fine, we'll get pizza on one condition…"

Jamie immediately let out a loud groan, knowing she'd disagree with Owen's caveat. "What's the catch?” She crossed her arms, and slumped into the couch, head cocked to the side as she waited for Owen’s proposition.

"If you're not into her like you say you are, you don’t mind if I ask her out then?” Owen wasn’t questioning so much as he was challenging Jamie. 

"I’m sorry, what?" Jamie's eyebrows furrowed in confusion and her jaw dropped in disbelief. 

Owen rolled his eyes and gently smacked Jamie upside the head. "You're such a dummy, obviously I don't actually want to ask her out." He sighed in disappointment.

Jamie rolled her eyes and with an exasperated sigh, she leaned forward on the sofa, resting her elbows against her legs and her head in her hands. “You’re a bloody nightmare, you know that yeah?”

"To be fair, I was just trying to get you to admit you liked her so you'd ask her out and maybe finally commit to something that isn’t found inside of a greenhouse.” Owen so kindly pointed out.

"Finally commit to something?" Jamie scoffed, even though she knew how accurate that was. She then crossed her arms and once again leaned back onto the sofa.

Owen sighed as he grabbed his cell phone from his pocket. With a heavy swipe of his finger, he unlocked the screen and quickly dialed a number.

"What are you doing?" Jamie sat up attentively, she raised a concerned eyebrow.

"I'm ordering a pizza, and you're going to flirt with her when she delivers it." Owen quickly ran away from Jamie's grasp as she dove for him, in an attempt to grab his phone. He ran into the bathroom and shut the door behind him, locking it so an extremely angry Jamie couldn’t get through to interrupt him.

Three minutes later Owen opened the door and walked out, coming face to face with fiery cheeks and a puffed out chest. "There, you have about forty minutes to practice what you're going to say. Don't say I never gave you anything," he smiled as he walked past her back to the sofa.

Jamie could feel the knots build in her stomach as she thought about trying to flirt with the Delivery Girl. Flirting was definitely something Jamie was well acquainted with and it came naturally to her. She never had any trouble walking alone into a club on a Saturday night and leaving with a girl on her arm, and later to her bed, of course. This time was different though, and Jamie couldn’t figure what she was going to say or do. She was absolutely stumped. She let out an exhausted sigh and followed Owen back to the sofa, deciding she was going to watch TV with him to take her mind off her inevitable emabarrasment while she waited for the pizza.

Owen watched Jamie as she obsessively checked the time on her phone, while biting her fingernails absentmindedly. "Nervous?" Owen smirked as he glanced down at her knee bouncing up and down, tapping a steady beat to the rhythm of her nerves.

"Not at all," Jamie’s eyes moved back and forth between the TV and her phone, avoiding the smug look she knew Owen likely had on his face.

Owen opened his mouth, a sarcastic reply at the ready, when the sound of the buzzer echoed through the apartment and cut him off before he could say a word. He looked over at Jamie, who quickly hopped off the couch. 

"Ready?" He rubbed his hands together in excitement as he followed her to the door.

"Shut up," she snapped. She went to the intercom and pressed the call button. She cleared her throat and with the tiniest voice, she answered. “Hello,” she squeaked, nearly knocking Owen over in a fit of laughter.

A voice soft as wind chimes rang through. "Papa John’s, I have a pizza here for Jamie." The Delivery Girl replied.

"Come on up," Jamie replied, buzzing her in. She then quickly ran to the bathroom and grabbed the bottle of mouthwash.

"You're ridiculous," Owen smiled as he shook his head.

"You’re a git." Jamie shot out before taking a giant swig directly from the bottle and regretting it not even two seconds later. Her eyes widened in horror as she felt the burning sensation hit her tongue like a freight train.

"Yeah looks about right,” Owen chuckled as he saw the pain in Jamie’s eyes.

Jamie finally got relief as she spit the mouthwash into the sink. She looked up at the mirror to see Owen in the reflection. He stood in the hallway, biting his lip to contain his laughter. “Go away,” Jamie whined.

"And miss this disaster? No way," he smiled.

Before Jamie could retort, there was a gentle knock at the door. She looked at Owen, eyes wide as she stood perfectly still. Owen waited patiently for her to go and answer the door. He rolled his eyes when he saw Jamie make no attempt at moving. 

There was another knock, this time a bit louder. Owen snapped his fingers from across the hallway and pointed to the door, snapping Jamie out of every scenario playing over in her head. She slowly approached the door and took a deep breath before opening it. She was thankful for that deep breath because the second she laid her eyes on the beautiful blonde with her bright blue eyes standing in front of her, Jamie's breath was taken away.

"Hi, pizza delivery for Jamie?" The Delivery Girl smiled. Jamie stared at her and quickly nodded. "Are you Jamie?" She asked, confused by the lack of verbal confirmation.

Jamie nodded again. Quickly realizing how stupid she must look she cleared her throat and finally answered her. "Yeah, that's me." She smiled.

"Awesome, that will be $17.85." The Delivery Girl looked down at the receipt and back at Jamie, who continued to stand there smiling.

Owen watched in horror as his best friend came off looking like a total creep. He prayed internally for her to say something, or do something. Anything that wasn’t her just standing there, smiling at the cute blonde in silence.

He sighed in relief as he watched Jamie grab her bag and pull out her wallet. That relief quickly faded as he heard the words flow out of Jamie’s mouth.

"So uh…do you like delivering pizza?" Jamie asked, as she searched through her wallet. Owen had to bite his tongue to keep himself from laughing.

"It's…alright?" The girl replied, thrown off by her question. "It pays the bills until I'm out of school," she shrugged.

"Oh? What are you in school for?" Jamie smiled.

The Delivery Girl looked at Jamie, and then looked over at Owen and back at Jamie again. "Uh, teaching…" She replied awkwardly.

"That's a cool major," Jamie smiled. "I guess that means you’re gonna be like that sexy Nanny yeah? Minus the feeding children crack of course. What was her name?” Jamie paused as she took a moment to think. Barely any time had passed before her eyes lit up as if she had an epiphany. “Nanny Mcphee," Jamie winked at the blonde, thinking she was on a much different track than from where she was actually heading.

Owen quickly spun around, facing away from the two women. His face went completely red as he tried to restrain himself from laughing out loud.

The Delivery Girl stood there silently, with her eyebrow cocked for what seemed like forever in Jamie’s mind. She saw the blonde open her mouth as if she was going to say something, but then the awkward silence continued.

Owen just about had enough and just as he pulled out his phone and was about to intervene, The Delivery Girl beat him to it. “Uh, I believe you’re thinking of Mary Poppins?”

Jamie stood there thinking for a few seconds, she scratched her head as she was deep in thought. “No, I reckon you have them mixed up yeah? Nanny Mcphee was too good to be true, she was young, beautiful and....” Jamie trailed off as Owen lifted his phone up to her eye level. A picture of some older lady with a big nose, and a giant mole was pulled up on his screen.

“That’s Nanny Mcphee, you twat.” Owen gave a closed mouth giggle.

Jamie’s pupils narrowed and seemed to flee from the expanding whites of her eyes and she looked down in horror.

“Yeah no I definitely meant Poppins then.” She could barely breathe let alone say anything else as she grabbed a bill from her wallet.

Then there it was again, that fucking adorable laugh. She looked up and couldn’t help but smile as the blonde’s penetrating blue eyes met with hers.

Jamie adjusted her collar as if it were closing in around her throat and she couldn’t breathe. With trembling hands she handed the other woman her money. "You can keep the change uh…?" Jamie had decided she just needed to rip the bandaid off. This horrible experience could possibly not get any worse. She at least had to know this beautiful girl’s name.

"Dani, my name is Dani." She answered, her voice as pure and sweet as if straight from heaven.

"Nice to meet you Dani, name is Jamie.” She softly smiled, her arm with an open palm extended towards the other woman. Dani met Jamie halfway as she accepted, the two of them gazed at one another. Jamie’s fingers brushed the inside of Dani’s palm as they both pulled away, and in that moment she swore she saw Dani softly bite her bottom lip. “Thanks for delivering our pizza, it means a lot.” Jamie said, in an attempt to stall Dani from leaving.

"Well…it is my job," Dani chuckled.

"Right, sorry I don't know why I said that?" As much as Jamie wanted to keep talking to Dani and find out all there was to know about this unbelievably sexy blonde, she knew she needed to save herself from any more embarrassment. 

"It's okay, but I should go. These pizzas aren't going to deliver themselves. I mean if they did I'd be out of a job," Dani joked playfully.

And just as she predicted and attempted to avoid, Jamie let out a loud and unexpected laugh making everyone in the room jump. Jamie chuckled nervously as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Uh yeah, thanks. See you later." Without waiting for Dani to reply, Jamie quickly shut the door in her face and waited a few seconds before smacking her head against it. She slowly lifted her head from the door when she heard a tiny knock. She looked back at Owen, eyes wide. Owen had tears falling as he was in a silent fit of laughter watching his best friend struggle.

Jamie slowly opened the door and almost fell to the floor when she saw Dani holding a pizza box in front of her. "You uh…you forgot your pizza?" Dani slightly moved the pizza box toward Jamie, her lips tucked inward as though she was trying not to laugh at how ridiculous the entire interaction had been

"Thanks," Jamie whispered defeatedly. She then grabbed the box and this time she slowly shut the door. She dropped the pizza box on the floor and walked towards the sofa. With a heavy groan, she fell into the cushions face first.

Owen waited a good minute before finally bursting out into laughter. "Oh my god, did that really just happen?" He cried out.

"Shut up, it wasn't that bad." Jamie mumbled against the sofa.

"Jamie, you compared her to Nanny Mcphee. Do you need me to show you what Nanny Mcphee looks like again?” Owen got his phone out, ready to pull the photo back up.

Jamie sat up on the couch and glared at Owen. "No, thank you. I got it." She rubbed her temples as she replayed the conversation in her head. "Why me,” she cried out in frustration. She let out a long and much needed sigh, as she sat in silence for a minute. “Fuck it,” Jamie muttered under her breath. She stood up from the couch and grabbed her phone.

"What are you doing?" Owen watched carefully as she dialed a number, her hands noticeably shaking.

"Ordering another pizza," she replied, the determination was visible in not only her actions but her tone as well.

"Jamie…" Owen stopped talking when she raised a finger in the air as someone answered the phone. He watched in amazement as she ordered another pizza to be delivered again, tonight.

"How's it going to look when she comes with another pizza and this one isn't even finished yet? There are only two of us here. If she doesn't think you're weird yet, she definitely will now." Owen sighed.

"I don't care. She won't have time to think I'm weird when I'm busy sweeping her off her feet." Jamie shook her entire body off as if she were shaking all the bad energy from their last encounter away. She then walked over to the pizza box on the floor, picked it up and placed it on the coffee table, walking away right after.

"Where are you going?" Owen yelled after her.

"To prepare," was all she replied with before she slammed her bedroom door shut.

Another forty minutes passed before Jamie finally exited her room, a cocky smile on her face.

"Everything okay?" Owen inquired.

"Everything is perfect, just wait and see." Jamie walked to the front door, stopping in front of it, staring directly at it as though she were expecting Dani to be on the other end of it at any moment.

"You know a watched pot never boils, right?" Owen crossed his arms, finding his best friend to be more amusing than usual.

"You know I'm not afraid to punch you in the face, right?" Jamie snapped her neck towards Owen, glaring at him.

Her neck nearly got a kink in it when she heard a gentle knock, bringing her attention right back to the front of her. 

"Someone must've let her in." Owen whispered, a tiny smile crept to the left side of his face. Jamie looked at him, terrified. "Well answer it, we don't need a repeat of earlier." Owen snapped in a hushed tone.

Jamie quickly shook her head before opening the front door, to see a cheerful Dani standing in front of her. "Hello again," Dani smiled.

"Hi, Dani." Jamie could feel her eyelid twitch as she attempted to wink, probably making her come off more creepy than she intended.

"So uh, why all the pizza?" Dani asked, genuinely confused.

"Oh, my roommate and I decided to have a few friends come over later, so we ordered a second one now rather than later." Jamie lied.

"I see," Dani smiled. "Well that'll be $17.85."

"Right," Jamie smiled. "Let me grab the pizza from you and I'll grab your money," Dani then handed her the box. Jamie quickly placed the pizza box on top of the other and grabbed her wallet from the table.

"So, an interesting fact about pizza…" Jamie started. Owen's eyes widened in horror as he listened to his best friend go on. "Did you know the first U.S. pizzeria opened in 1905 in New York City, After World War II? Many of the returning soldiers who were stationed in Italy created a high demand for the pizza they encountered and tasted there." Jamie recited what she had read during her research, word for word.

Dani stood silent as she watched Jamie. "You uh…you don't say?" Dani had to bite her lip to keep herself from smirking.

"Yeah, did you know pizza used to be a food for peasants?" She asked as she played with the money in her wallet.

"No, I did not know that." Dani replied cautiously. "I don't know a whole lot about pizza to be honest, I mean it's not like it's what I'm majoring in," she smirked amused by the other woman.

Jamie had a mental freak out before she replied to her. "No of course not, what kind of weirdo knows all these random facts about pizza?" She sighed.

"Uh the weirdo who is currently spitting out random facts about pizza?" Owen chimed in from behind her, making Dani giggle.

Jamie snapped her head back to her best friend and gave him a death glare. "Thanks for that Owen," she retorted through gritted teeth.

"So Dani, what are your plans the rest of the night?" She looked back towards her, smiling.

"Just going to work the rest of my shift, then I'm off around twelve so I'm going to go home, curl up on my couch and probably watch a movie." She smiled.

"Sounds like fun, though if you're looking for a good time you should come over here later on." Jamie winked, deciding to just take the shot.

"Excuse me?" Dani raised an eyebrow.

"No, I don't mean good time like that, I mean just hangout and…have fun?" Jamie could feel her heartbeat pick up speed the more she continued to sound like a twat.

"Yeah, I'll probably be too tired, but maybe another night?" Dani held her hand out, waiting for the cash.

"Oh yeah for sure," Jamie nodded. She grabbed a twenty from her wallet. "Sorry, that's all I have or I would tip you more." Jamie sighed.

"Well seeing as you gave a pretty hefty tip last time; this is still more than enough." Dani replied. "Anyways, I should get going. It was uh…nice talking to you again…thanks for the lecture on pizza." She smiled.

"Yeah," Jamie shoved her hands into her pockets. "If you're ever looking for more interesting facts like that, I'm your girl!" She immediately regretted the sentence the second it left her mouth.

"Good to uh…know." Dani chuckled. "Well I'll see you guys later. Enjoy your pizza." She quickly spun and walked away.

Jamie slammed the door and approached the sofa, dropping down onto it once more. "On a scale from one to ten, how terrifying do you think I came off?" Jamie whined.

"I’m going to say Nanny Mcphee terrifying." Owen smirked.

"Not funny, mate." Jamie frowned.

"It wasn't that bad, Jamie." He couldn’t help but feel sorry for her. He had never seen his best friend struggle so much with picking a girl up. He felt it was his duty to at least make an attempt to comfort her.

"Owen, I literally searched pizza so that I would have something to discuss with her," Jamie looked up at her best friend and rolled her eyes when she saw him snicker. "I'll be in my room for the next ten years if you need me." Jamie got up from the couch.

It was around twelve-thirty AM when Jamie felt her stomach rumble, finally she decided to exit her room to eat seeing as they had over thirty-two slices of pizza, she figured she should get to work on it. She saw Owen watching football and decided to sit down and join him. Before she could though, there was a gentle knock at the door.

"Wanna get that?" Owen asked, his eyes focused on the screen in front of him.

"Who the hell could that be this time of night?" Jamie scrunched her face in confusion. Her heart suddenly stopped when she opened the door and was met with a familiar pair of beautiful bright blue eyes.

"Uh, Owen…did you order pizza?" Jamie looked behind her in confusion.

"No, he didn't." Dani answered before he could. Jamie turned back around and faced the other woman.

"Alright, did I forget to pay you or something?" She asked.

Dani shook her head. "No, did you forget you invited me to your party earlier?" She smirked.

"I…uh…remember…but didn't you say no?" Jamie was legitimately confused.

"I did, because I thought I would be too tired, but turns out I'm actually wide awake. So, where's the party?" Dani peered inside and smiled when she saw no one but Owen around.

"Oh…my friends...they uh left about a half hour ago.” Jamie lied in an attempt to salvage what was left of her dignity.

"Ah I see,” Dani smiled. "Well no worries. I actually came by to bring you some soda and wings, I figured with all the pizza you guys have that some variety wouldn't hurt." Dani held the bag out in front of her, extending her goodwill gesture.

"Oh but why would you…?" Jamie then stopped and looked back at her best friend, who had quickly shifted his attention back to the TV when he saw Jamie’s gaze flow in his direction.

"Owen…" Jamie started.

"Owen didn't have anything to do with this," Dani quickly chimed in. "If I'm going to be totally honest, I just moved here like six months ago and I don’t have a lot of friends, well any friends really aside from my roommate. I’m actually uh really bad at making new friends.” She shuffled her foot against the ground. “As weird as tonight was, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued by you guys.”

“Oh,” was all the courage Jamie could muster up as the realization hit her. _Friends._

"So, if you’re down for it, i’d love to grab a drink sometime?" Dani smiled.

Jamie found herself chewing on her bottom lip, nodding her head up and down. “Yeah uh, I reckon that will work for me yeah.”

"Great, here’s my number.” Dani’s movement was stiff as she reached her hand out and offered Jamie a small ripped piece of paper.

“Awesome Poppins, I’ll text you my number and we can go from there.” Jamie felt her heart beat out of her chest as she heard Dani’s angelic laugh escape her lips once more.

“I’m glad to see you got it right this time,” Dani winked. 

Jamie felt her face heat up from embarrassment. Not wanting to show her vulnerable side, she cleared her throat and gave Dani a firm nod. “Right, well we’ll talk soon then.”

“Sounds good,” Dani smiled as she backed away from the door. “See you soon then mate.” Dani made a terrible attempt at a british accent. “Oh god, I’m so sorry. See what I mean? Terrible at making new friends.”

As fucking adorable as Jamie found Dani’s horrible attempt at a british accent to be, making her want to grab and kiss her even more than before. She couldn’t help but feel sorry for her, being in a foreign area without many people to talk to must be really lonely.

“Aye, what are you doing tomorrow night?” Jamie smiled softly at Dani, her eyes once again falling upon her lips as she saw the other woman beaming.

“I’m done work at 10, is that too late…” Dani was cut off by Jamie, who was shaking her head.

“Not at all. In case you didn’t notice, we live above a boring little pub. Fancy meeting at the pub when you’re off tomorrow?”

Dani’s head nodded really fast up and down, more times than Jamie could count. “Yeah that sounds great, I love boring pubs. I’ll meet you there tomorrow,” Dani smiled.

“Alright Poppins, tomorrow it is. Have a good night then.” Jamie gave her an awkward thumbs up before finally shutting the door. She turned around to face Owen, who was looking at her with puppy dog eyes, making her feel even more pathetic than she was already feeling.

“Yeah yeah, I know. She’s straight, I fucked up and made a fool out of myself for nothing.” Jamie sighed, sitting down beside Owen.

“I mean at least now you know?” Owen smiled softly. “Plus, she actually does seem pretty wicked, friend’s isn’t the worst thing you could have gotten out of this arrangement,” he finished.  
  
Jamie nodded in agreement. She knew Owen was right, but if tonight proved anything for her, it was that she definitely wanted to get to know Dani on a different kind of level, a level that did not appear to be an option for her.


	2. Chapter 2

Jamie looked at the time on her phone as she stood behind the counter of the flower shop she worked at. It had been a slow day, and the fact that she had plans with Dani to meet at the pub later that night was just making things worse. All she wanted to do was go home so she could shower and spend the next two hours planning out her outfit. She had felt so nervous and the fact that it was slow and there were no customers, did not help with taking her mind off of anything.

Jamie jumped as her phone made a loud noise vibrating on the counter. She picked it up and smiled when she saw a message from Dani.

_From Poppins 2:23pm_  
_Hey :) Figured I’d just check in, are we still on for tonight?_

Jamie’s tongue was slightly sticking out the corner of her mouth as she typed back a reply.

_To Poppins 2:24pm_  
_You know it, could definitely use a few beers after this shite day I’ve been having_

_From Poppins 2:25pm_  
_Sorry to hear you haven’t had the best day, anything I can do to make it better?_

_To Poppins 2:25pm_  
_Oh I reckon there’s a thing or two you could do that would make it better ;)_

She sat there staring at the message she had typed out, wanting to to hit send. She wanted to oh so badly redeem herself from the shit show of her attempt to pick Dani up the other night. She let out a sigh as she went to hit delete, her attention quickly brought to the front door as Owen walked in, smiling like a big idiot.

“Aye asshole, figured I’d bring you some lunch on my way to work since we still have twelve slices of pizza left to eat.” He dropped a bag on the counter and looked up to see Jamie quickly flip her phone face down on the counter.

He stood there, with his eyebrow raised looking at his best friend. Jamie flashed a tiny smile, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention. They both stood there in a silent standoff, neither of them moving an inch.

Jamie was no match for Owen’s quick hand movement as he grabbed her phone and tried to pull away before she could stop him.

“Wait,” Jamie leaned over the counter to grab her phone back but it was too late.

Owen stood there, smiling as he looked back up. “Oh bloody hell Jamie, you did not actually send this to her?” Owen was shocked to see his best friend bounce back so quick from the nervous wreck she was the other night.

“I didn’t actually send it, relax. Now can I get my phone back?” Jamie held her hand out, growing increasingly impatient.

“Uh it says here it was sent at 2:26pm,” Owen flipped the phone around and watched Jamie’s eyes widen with fear.

“No….no you fuckin git! You must have hit send with your fat fingers when you grabbed the phone from me.” Jamie frantically tried to undo what Owen had accidentally done.

“Oh fuck me Jamie, well why did you have a message typed out like that if you weren’t going to send it?” Owen brought his hands up to his face and rubbed his forehead. “You really are going for stalker of the year, yeah?”

“I don’t know!” Jamie shouted in panic. “I was just messing about, I…” Jamie stopped talking when she felt her phone vibrate. “Oh fuck me, she replied didn’t she?” Jamie held the phone in front of her, pleading for Owen to take it.

“No way,” Owen pulled back. “I’m not going anywhere near that thing again.” He held his hands up in front of him in surrender.

“Listen here you knob, you got me into this mess. You’re gonna get me out of it, yeah?” Jamie pleaded. Owen took another step back, shaking his head ever so slightly.

“Sorry mate, you’re on your own. In fact, I have to go to work.” Owen quickly turned around and ran out the door before Jamie could protest.

Jamie stood there in silence, afraid to look at her screen. She sucked in a breath as she felt her phone vibrate again. With a deep exhale, she finally turned the screen back on to see two replies.

_From Owen 2:29pm_  
_LOL figured I’d send you a text and give you another quick scare because I’m assuming you are still standing there like a lazy sod and haven’t read her reply yet. GET ON WITH IT._

Jamie let out a loud frustrated breath as she hit the back button to get out of his message. Then with everything she had in her, she clicked on Dani’s message.

_From Poppins 2:26pm_  
_Huh??_

Jamie bit her lip as wheels turned in her head like clockwork. She would type out a message, then hit delete. Then she’d stand there thinking again before typing out another message, and then hitting delete.

“Oh fuck me,” she whispered to herself in defeat. Her fingers drummed the counter as she continued to think, stopping after a minute when she finally knew what to reply with.

_To Poppins 2:35pm_  
_LOL was thinking you could bring me another pizza to add to the other 12 slices I still have left over at home. Also, completely didn’t mean to put a winky face, meant for a happy face_

She waited. She had probably never stared at her phone so hard in her entire life, waiting for a message to come through. She saw her screen light up and quickly unlocked it.

_From Poppins 2:36pm_  
_Oh haha, I was so confused but now that makes sense. Anyways, I better get back to work. I’ll see you at 8!_

Jamie locked her phone and shoved it inside her apron, not wanting to touch it ever again if she didn’t have to.

Eight o’clock came pretty quickly after Jamie almost suffered from cardiac arrest. She sat at a table at the back of the pub, her leg nervously bouncing up and down as she stared at the door, waiting. She felt her chest get heavy when she saw Dani walk in and wave at her right away from across the room. Jamie got up as the beautiful blonde approached her.

“Hey Poppins,” she smiled when she heard Dani laugh at the reminder of their awkward encounter.

“Not going to lie, I am really digging the nickname.” Dani took a seat from across Jamie, both of them sitting at the same time.

“Well, I reckon it’s better than Nanny Mcphee yeah?” Jamie smirked as she watched Dani choke on the beer she had just taken a sip of. “Hope you don’t mind beer, figured I’d get us our first round.” Jamie lifted her glass in the air, waiting for Dani to mimic her action. Dani obliged, smiling as they clinked their glasses together.

“Cheers,” Dani rested the glass back down on the table. “I don’t mind beer at all, it’s actually my go to ever since I moved here.”

“Ah we turned you to the dark side did we?” Jamie winked before taking another sip.

“Oh you have no idea, England has brought out a side of me I never knew I had.” Dani ran her fingers up and down the glass as she looked down at it.

“Oh, do tell?” Jamie was intrigued, wanting to find out anything and everything about the girl in front of her.

“Well for one thing, I’m all about the metric system now.” Dani proudly informed her new friend, making Jamie chuckle. “Also, I’ve definitely caught myself saying bloody hell more times than I can count.” Dani finished, taking another sip from her beer.

“Ah yeah, that one will stick with ya forever.” Jamie smirked, her heart falling into her stomach as she heard Dani’s laugh ring through her ears again. She really had the most adorable laugh. Jamie cleared her throat in an attempt to get her mind back to the present, knowing that no good would come from crushing on a straight girl. Plus, she barely knew her.

“So what brings you here, why study school abroad?” The big question that had been on Jamie’s mind since she found out Dani was here for school.

“I was a wanted felon in the states, I had to get out before I was caught.” Dani laughed when she saw Jamie’s eyebrow raise. “Did you actually think that was true?”

Jamie shook her head side to side. “I mean, you never know with you Americans to be fair. You lot are crazy I hear,” Jamie replied.

Dani pondered for a moment before smiling and nodding in agreement. “Yeah you got me there.” She took another sip of her beer, resting it back onto the table, her fingers gently drummed the sides of the glass. “No, I had a bad breakup and always wanted to travel the world. Figured it was the perfect excuse to leave. England was just where my finger landed on the globe, not that I’m complaining though. I really do enjoy it here.”

Jamie felt a bit of relief in hearing she didn’t have an American boyfriend, but she stopped herself from getting her hopes up, reminding herself that this girl is straight. She is just needing a friend.

“Sorry to hear that, breakups are always the worst. Had a few in my day as well, I prefer one night stands to avoid the mess really.” Jamie took a sip from her beer.  


“Yeah, so did my ex back home I guess.” Dani sighed. “My ex just never got around to telling me until after we had fallen in, well after I had fallen in love.” Jamie’s heart sank, who the hell would want to cheat on someone as beautiful as Dani?

“Blimey Poppins” Jamie cleared her throat as she put the empty glass down. “That’s awful, I’m so sorry to hear that. How long were you two together?” Jamie was genuinely curious about how much damage was done.

“Six years, we met in my first year of college.” Dani pursed her lips, avoiding eye contact with Jamie. “Sorry, it’s still a bit fresh. We broke up right before I decided to come here, so about six and a half months ago.” Dani looked like she was about to cry.

“You don’t have to be sorry Dani, that’s bloody awful. Any sane person would still be recovering, I completely get it.” Jamie hesitated, but then gently rested her hand on Dani’s. “How about another beer and a couple of shots, you bloody deserve it.” Jamie smiled when she saw the corner of Dani’s mouth twist upward.

“Yeah, but it’s my turn…” Dani was cut off.

“No way Poppins, what kind of wanker would I be if I let you buy drinks after making you talk about that heavy shit?” Dani laughed, listening to Jamie’s accent was slowly becoming something she quite enjoyed.

“You have a point,” Dani agreed.

“Right then, I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere, unless it’s to the washroom, obviously you can do that.” Jamie realized she was starting to sound like an idiot again so she quickly walked to the bar, Dani smiled as her eyes followed her the entire way. When Jamie got back, she saw Dani smiling at her.

“What, do I have something on my face?” Jamie went to grab her phone to take a look but was stopped by Dani.

“No, I just appreciate you having a drink with me.”

“Ah well, it was the least I could do after making you deliver all those pizzas,” Jamie replied, causing Dani to laugh, once again a sweet melody of music to Jamie’s ears.

“Yeah what was that all about, I have to know?” Dani took another sip of her beer.

Jamie was not wanting to admit to Dani that she was trying to flirt with her and failed miserably at it. So she opted to throw Owen under the bus, to pay him back for screwing her over earlier.

“Yeah you remember Owen?” Jamie asked.

“How could I forget,” Dani smirked.

“Well, he sort of fancied you from the few times you delivered pizza to us before that night. He wanted me to find out if you were single but I’m shit at being a wingman, as you can probably remember. I don’t usually talk to strangers so my small talk is out of practice.” Jamie took another sip from her beer, part of her feeling bad about lying.

“Ah, yeah that was a disaster. Poor Owen, what was he thinking leaving his fate in your hands?” Dani bit her bottom lip and she chuckled.

“Right? That’s what I’m saying, that dickhead will never learn.” Jamie sighed sarcastically.

“You two have a unique relationship it seems, how did you guys meet?” Dani took a sip of her beer, but kept eye contact with Jamie.

“Ah, that is a bit of a depressing story, I don’t want to bore you with it all.” Jamie saw the bartender approaching them and lifted two fingers in the air, letting him know they were ready for refills.

“Oh please, you had to hear my sob story. It’s your turn, don’t hold out on me.” Dani pressed on.

Jamie sighed in defeat and nodded her head up and down in agreement. “Alright then, you asked for it.” She cleared her throat and took the final sip of beer she had left.

“Owen and I have been friends since we were kids, I would say probably around the time he stopped shitting in a diaper. So he was maybe eight?” Jamie smiled when she heard Dani laugh. “Anyways, my mom died when I was fourteen.” She looked down at her empty glass, spinning it around on the table.

“Jamie, I’m so sorry.” Dani rested her hand on Jamie’s wrist, making Jamie feel at ease.

“It’s all good,” Jamie looked back up at Dani, who was now frowning. “It’s all good,” she reassured her. “Well dad walked out when mom got sick, so Owen’s family was always helping my mom out. They were our neighbours at the time, and once my mom lost most of her mobility, things got pretty hard for me. I was just a kid, I was only able to do so much. One day, I was helping her to the washroom and well…” Jamie trailed off, her chest feeling tight. Dani’s thumb gently rubbed against Jamie’s wrist, trying to bring some form of comfort to her.

“She fell and she uh, she broke her ankle. I didn’t think anything of it, I thought we’d get a cast put on her and she’d come back home. But you see, that’s not what muscular dystrophy does. It eats at your muscles slowly, taking away your ability to walk. The more you keep moving, the longer it can take. But once you stop moving….” Jamie trailed off as she felt a tear forming in the corner of her eye.

“Anyways,” Jamie cleared her throat. “Long story short, Owen’s parents took me in and took care of me. They became my second family, and Owen became my brother. So yeah, he’s a rightful twat sometimes, but he’s my brother.” Jamie let a sad chuckle out, trying her best to lighten the mood.

Dani felt tears forming in her eyes as she looked at Jamie. For the first time, she noticed pain behind her eyes, something she would have never noticed if it wasn’t for Jamie sharing her past.

“Blimey, I don’t ever tell people that story.” Jamie looked over at the bartender who was now approaching them with two more beers.

“Thanks Craig,” Jamie smiled.

“Of course, you alright Jamie?” Craig frowned as he could tell something was off.

“Yeah, don’t you worry about me. You know I bounce back fairly quickly,” she gave the bartender a wink.

“Right, well if either of you two need anything, just let me know.” Craig looked over at Dani and back at Jamie. “And is this beautiful young lady your date this evening?”

“Date?” Dani had a puzzled look on her face as she looked at Jamie.

“Ah, I guess that answers my question doesn’t it? Well, this round is on me and my big fat mouth. Sorry for my assumption ladies,” Craig smiled before walking away and leaving the two in silence.

“Bloody hell, my head is starting to spin from all the drinking we’ve been doing.” Jamie rubbed the back of her neck, not yet clueing in to what just happened.

“So wait, are you....” Dani raised an eyebrow at Jamie, as if she waited for Jamie to finish the sentence.

And then it hit Jamie, and Jamie prayed that this wouldn’t scare Dani off.

“Oh...uh yeah,” Jamie felt her nerves kick in. “I hope that’s not a problem?” Jamie just wanted to get it over with, she’d rather find out right away if her new friend was homophobic.

Dani chuckled, making Jamie glare up at her. “What’s so funny?” She asked.

“My ex’s name was Viola, so no, it’s not a problem.” Dani smirked.

“Ah I see...wait what?” Jamie nearly fell out of the booth as the other woman’s words slowly registered in her drunken brain.

“Yeah, I left that part out because I never know how people will react. I figured you’d be cool with it, but I didn’t know you were also...gay?” Jamie could swear she heard relief in Dani’s voice.

“Oh yeah, about as gay as they come I reckon.” Jamie had to stop herself from grinning as she comprehended what Dani had just told her. _Now is not the time to be grinning, you prat._ She quickly brought the glass of beer back up to her lips and this time she drank slowly, giving herself the time she needed.

The next couple of hours flew by as they went from talking about their jobs and dreams. Dani learned that Jamie was wanting to open her own flower shop one day and is currently working as a manager at the one down the street from their flat. Jamie learned that Dani is hoping to teach younger kids when she’s done with school next year.

They talked about their favourite music, TV series, and books. They talked until they lost track of time and Jamie felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.

“Well it’s probably getting to about that time, isn’t it?” Jamie pulled out her phone and saw two text messages waiting from Owen.

_From Owen 8:47pm_  
_Well, how is it? You reference her to any other ugly nannies yet?_

_From Owen 12:53am_  
_Hope you don’t mind, but I finished the pizza. I’m going to bed so make sure you shut the fuck up when you come in you tosser._

Jamie laughed as she read the texts, she looked up to Dani who was staring at her, as if she was trying to figure something out.

“Can I ask you a question?” Dani finally asked. Jamie looked at her, right away getting lost in her eyes and although they were bloodshot from being piss drunk, they were still the most beautiful eyes Jamie had ever seen.

“Yeah what’s on your mind love?” Jamie grabbed her beer and started to chug it down.

“Were you actually trying to find out if I was single for Owen?” Dani almost sounded disappointed.

Jamie nearly spilled her beer, she was really hoping that wasn’t going to be questioned after Dani found out about her attraction to women.

“Well uh…” Jamie was trying to think fast and hard of what to say. “I mean how does one answer that?” Jamie felt relief when she saw Dani let out a tiny chuckle.

“Jamie, it’s okay if you were.” Dani tried to reassure her, but it clearly went over Jamie’s head.

Jamie kept her eyes on the table as she continued. “I mean, Owen did say he thought you were attractive so technically…” Jamie trailed off when she felt Dani’s foot slowly trail up her leg underneath the table.

“I...Dani?” Jamie could feel her heart race as she looked up and saw Dani’s eyes fixated on her.

“Jamie, you’re a terrible flirt, but you are extremely adorable, so that makes up for it.” Dani looked at Jamie who was now flushed in the face.

“To be fair, I’ve never had trouble flirting with any girl’s before you so…” Jamie’s eyes went wide as she realised what she had just admitted.

“Wait, so why did you have trouble with me then?” Dani was now intrigued.

“I don’t know,” Jamie shrugged. She couldn’t help but thank Craig internally for not only getting her drunk for this conversation but also outing her. “If I’m being honest Poppins, there was just something about ya that made me lose my head yeah? Your eyes are the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, and they’re very distracting. Then your smile, also the most beautiful smile I have ever seen. Then there’s your laugh and…” Jamie stopped herself realizing how crazy she must sound. “I’m sorry, I promise I’m not some obsessive stalker yeah? I just think you’re really fuckin beautiful. It threw me off my game.” Jamie finished, her eyes once again fixated on the table afraid to look up at Dani.

Dani could feel her stomach dance as she replayed everything Jamie had just said in her head. She really wanted to do nothing more than kiss the woman in front of her, but she also had only known her for a few days and she was still getting over Viola. She was conflicted.

“Jamie, what would you say about being friend’s…” Dani got cut off by Jamie.

“Ah shite, I scared ya didn’t I? See, I told you that you fuck with my mojo. I never come off like this, you probably think I’m a creepy little shit.” Jamie sighed, wanting to slam her head into the table.

“Jamie,” Dani laughed. “What would you say about being friends with benefits? I like you, it’s just...I don’t think I’m ready for a new relationship yet. I’d want to take things pretty slow though, maybe hangout a few more times.” She finally finished.

“Oh, shit. Well I wasn’t expecting that.” Jamie bit her lip as she thought about the pros and cons. The pros being, she could be with Dani and the more she got to know Dani, god she wanted to be with her.

The cons, she knew Dani was dangerous for her. She could already tell she liked Dani way more than a person should after knowing them for a few days. What if she wanted more eventually and Dani didn’t? Or what if Dani decides to not stick around after school? There were so many cons and god all she could think about was that one pro, she would get to be with Dani.

“How about we take things slow?” She saw Dani’s face drop so she quickly continued. “It’s not that I don’t want you Poppins, bloody hell you’ve seen how flustered you get me. I just know you’re hurting right now and I would never want to cause any extra stress in your life, you’re too cute to be sad.” Jamie’s words melted Dani’s heart, giving Jamie relief when she saw her smile again.

“So let’s just get to know each other for a while longer and we can revisit the whole friends with benefits thing in a couple of weeks yeah?” Jamie grabbed Dani’s hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“That sounds perfect, Jamie.” Dani nodded in agreement. “That being said, I really should get going. It’s pretty late and…” Jamie cut her off.

“Well I didn’t say you can’t sleepover, I just said nothing can happen. I’ll take the sofa and you can take my bed. I won’t take no for an answer either Poppins.” She searched Dani’s eyes, waiting for an answer.

Dani smiled, admiring Jamie. “You really are adorable.”

“Posh,” Jamie scoffed. “Now then, I don’t know about you but I’m drunk off me arse.” She stood up and held her hand out. “Shall we?”

Dani grabbed her hand and stood up with her. “We shall,” She smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are enjoying this still, feedback is always appreciated :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So just a warning, this chapter has smut. I have never written smut before, so I apologise in advance if it comes off awkward.

Jamie yawned as she woke up, her hand went directly to her forehead as she felt a pounding sensation inside. She looked around, almost forgetting why she was on the sofa in the living room. After a few seconds, the events of last night came back to her, and she could feel a smile creep up her face as she looked towards her bedroom door and saw  _ Owen. _

“Well good morning,” Owen had a smirk on his face as he approached his best friend who was still laying down on the couch. He handed Jamie a tea and took a sip from the spare cup he had for himself. “And why are we out here on this fine day?” He asked, even though he already guessed the answer.

“It is way too early for your shite this morning,” Jamie rubbed her temples as she kept her left eye closed and used her right eye to try and focus Owen, who was still smirking. She then made an attempt to look behind him, as if she was expecting Dani to emerge from her room at any moment.

“She left about a half hour ago,” Owen knew instantly what Jamie was looking for. “But she told me to tell you “thank you, and that she’ll text you later.” Owen shoved Jamie’s feet off the couch and sat down beside her. “So tell me all about it,” he smirked.

Jamie rolled her eyes and carefully shifted her body to sit upward. “There’s nothing really to tell, we talked and got to know one another.” Jamie considered leaving the most important detail out, but she knew Owen would eventually find out and give her a hard time for it anyways. “I did find out she left America to get away from a bad breakup with her cheating ex...” Jamie paused. “Named Viola,” she finished, taking a sip from her tea as she waited for his reaction.

“Blimey, so she actually is gay? Fuck me, you have stupid luck,” he finished. Jamie chucked at his reaction.

“Yeah but she had a sticky breakup, I don’t know what’s going to happen between us. Right now we’re just going to take it slow, one day at a time to get to know each other. We’ll see where it goes from there.” She replied.

“Yeah I guess we’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?” Owen took a final sip from his tea and stretched as he got off the couch. “I fancy the day I see you finally let your guards down and shag up with someone for more than just a night.” He winked, then he started to walk away.

“No one asked you, arsehole!” Jamie yelled after him, rolling her eyes when she saw him raise his hand in the air with his middle finger sticking upward.

Jamie grabbed her phone off the table to check the time, smiling when she saw Dani had already messaged her.

_ From Poppins 7:17am _

_ I had a lot of fun last night. Not sure if Owen mentioned he saw me on my way out, hope he doesn’t give you too much of a hard time _

_ To Poppins 7:32am _

_ Yeah he mentioned it, don’t worry I can handle that knob. I had fun last night too, when are you free next? _

Jamie found herself wanting to see Dani already, which was a new feeling for her. It made her nervous yet excited all at the same time.

_ From Poppins 7:33am _

_ I’m free tonight, did you and Owen want to come to my place for dinner? You can meet my roommate, Hannah. She’s really nice, I told her all about you so now she wants to meet you. Hope that’s okay? _

_ To Poppins 7:34am _

_ Oh I reckon that’ll be more than okay. What time? _

_ From Poppins 7:34am _

_ Be here for 7, can’t wait to see you :) _

Jamie smiled at the text as she placed her mug down on the table and got up from the couch. “Oi, dickhead!” Jamie yelled, watching as Owen’s head appeared from his bedroom door.

“What do you want now?” He asked.

“Keep tonight open, we’ve been invited to Dani’s place for dinner to meet her roommate. We gotta be there for 7.” Jamie replied, waiting for Owen to respond. Her eyes rolled when she heard Owen’s reply.

“Well alright then, is Dani’s roommate single?”

The day flew by and before Jamie knew it, she stood nervously beside Owen as they waited outside of a small adorable looking home that Dani and Hannah shared. She held a paper bag in her hand with two bottles of wine inside, not wanting to come empty handed to dinner.

“Stop fidgeting you prat,” Owen whispered out the side of his mouth as kept his eye contact ahead.

“I can’t help myself yeah? You think I like feeling this way?” Jamie shot Owen a glare. She closed her eyes and sighed in an attempt to relax herself, but feeling herself tense as she heard the front door open. However as she looked up and was met with beautiful blue eyes looking directly at her, and Dani flashing that gorgeous big smile across her face, it was then she was able to feel her entire body relax. And god, if this is the effect Dani had on her now, she knew she was in danger the closer they got.

“Well look at you two, you guys clean up nicely.” Dani’s eyes trailed to Owen and then back towards Jamie, admiring the effort she had put into her hair and makeup. “Here, come in! Hannah is in the kitchen finishing up dinner. I hope you two are okay with Shepherd's pie?” Dani gave a curious look when she saw Jamie roll her eyes and Owen’s face light up like a little boy on Christmas day.

“That is my favourite!” Owen nearly shoved passed Dani as he made his way inside, causing Jamie to cuss in disapproval. 

Dani giggled as she moved aside for Jamie. She felt her knees get weak as Dani grabbed her hand and led her inside. Jamie smiled nervously as she removed her shoes and followed closely behind Dani, who was still holding onto her. She used her other hand to swat away Owen, who was now tapping her arm to get her attention, knowing full well he was just going to comment on what was going on between the two of them.

Dani led the both of them into the kitchen to where Dani’s roommate was standing in front of the stove, stirring into a pot. “Hannah, this is Jamie and Owen.” She smiled. Jamie frowned as Dani let go of her hand and moved away.

“Ah, so you two are the famous dynamic duo I’ve heard all about?” Hannah placed the spoon onto the stove and walked towards the two of them, wiping her hands on her apron. “Happy to meet you both, I’m Hannah.” She grabbed Owen’s hand first, who appeared to be in awe.

“Oh yes, hello.” Owen smiled. “I’m Jamie....I mean I’m Owen, this is Jamie.” He finished, his heart skipping a beat as he heard Hannah’s laugh.

Jamie had to make a mental note to herself to not forget about that slip up, seeing as all the shit she’s had to endure from him since hers and Dani’s first encounter.

“Hi love, happy to meet you too.” Jamie smiled. 

“It smells lovely in here,” Owen lifted his nose to the air, taking it all in,

“Why thank you, Owen. It is one of the very few specialities I can make.” She opened the oven door and pulled out the Shepherd's pie.

“Well, I am the head chef at a restaurant so if you’re ever looking for some tips or tricks, or a few lessons, I’m your guy!” Owen smiled proudly, eyeing Jamie beside him, begging her internally to not say anything.

Jamie laughed and Owen knew it was all over. “You’re the bloody head chef at Hard Rock Cafe, hardly Gordon Ramsay I’d say.” She slapped him on the back and felt content to finally get a bit of payback for the last few days.

“Nobody asked you, did they?” Owen glared at her, making both Hannah and Dani chuckle.

“Didn’t I tell you these two are always at each other?” Dani was looking over at Hannah, who was still looking at owen.

“Indeed you did,” she paused. “Right well, anyway. Dinner is just about ready, why don’t you two go take a seat and Dani and I will bring the plates over.” She placed her hands on both Jamie’s and Owen’s backs and ushered them to the other room.

Once they were alone, Jamie looked over at Owen, with a big grin on her face. “Somebody sweet on Dani’s roommate?” She asked quietly.

“Shut up, she’s just really nice and beautiful. I wasn’t expecting that.” His face grew flushed.

“Right, well now you know how I feel yeah?” Jamie raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, yeah. Just keep to yourself and I’ll do the same, deal?” Owen pleaded, making Jamie roll her eyes.

“You’re lucky I have a soft spot for you, you knob.”

  
  


Dinner had finished as quickly as it started and left everyone full and content. There never seemed to be just one conversation going, between Jamie and Dani wanting to talk to each other, and Owen wanting to find out anything and everything about Hannah. Jamie found herself to be a bit overwhelmed.

I’ll be right back, I’m just going to go catch some air and have a smoke.” Jamie got up and excused herself. “Would you prefer I go in the back or the front?” She asked. 

Dani got up and smiled. “I’ll show you where to go,” she walked away with Jamie following closely behind. They both walked out the back door and sat on a bench together.

“Thank you for having us,” Jamie paused. “Your roommate is really nice,” she finished. She never really liked small talk so she grabbed a smoke from her pack and offered one to Dani, who gladly accepted.

“Of course, I was just happy I got to see you again so soon.” Dani placed the cigarette in her mouth and leaned closer to Jamie as she lit it for her, lighting her own right after.

Jamie felt her stomach flutter, just as it had done three already throughout the night. “Yeah?” She smirked. “I didn’t quite scare you off the other night then?” She inhaled from the cigarette and exhaled, watching Dani do the same.

Dani gave her a shy smile and lightly shook her head. “Don’t be crazy, all I’ve looked forward to all day was getting to see you again.” Her words made Jamie’s breath hitch, getting caught off guard once again.

“Poppins, you flirt.” Jamie smirked before taking another hit off her cigarette.

“Well, one of us has to be able to flirt.” Dani said, making Jamie laugh out loud, completely shocked at her forwardness. 

“True, true. Give me time, once I get my groove back,” Jamie’s tongue made a clicking noise. “Let’s just say you won’t know what’s coming.” She finished.

“Well hopefully it'll be me,” Dani whispered. Jamie could feel her face heat up as the words registered to her.

“Blimey Poppins, you need to slow down. You’re about two seconds away from causing me to pass out yeah?” Jamie bit her lip as she glanced at Dani.

Dani laughed and leaned back on the bench, inhaling from her cigarette. “Sorry, you’re right. You asked to take things slow, I’m not trying to go against your wishes.” Dani looked at Jamie, her eyes traveled down to her lips and back up to her eyes again.

“That’s right, I did ask that. I’m not sure why I did, but you best be keeping your distance then yeah?” Jamie winked.

Jamie was really regretting suggesting that they take things slow. All she wanted to do was just lean forward ever so slightly, and just feel Dani’s lips brushing up against her, running her fingers through Dani’s hair as she pulled her in for more.  _ Maybe that would be slow enough? A kiss isn’t really anything, it’s what comes after the kiss that can complicate things right? _ So hypothetically if Jamie were to just kiss Dani and not progress passed that, it should be fine. 

It was as though Dani was reading Jamie’s thoughts. She could see Dani’s breathing speed up as she lightly bit her bottom lip, slowly leaning forward. Jamie shuddered and looked down as she felt Dani’s hand rest on her thigh. She looked back up at Dani and could see the desire, the need in her eyes.

Without even realising it, their faces were a nose length apart. Jamie could see Dani leaning in ever so slightly. “Are you sure?” She whispered. She saw Dani nod her head up and down after looking around them.

“Y-yes,” she breathed out nervously.

“Thank fuck,” Jamie sighed out right before closing the distance between them, making Dani’s head spin as she felt their lips graze ever so slightly.

“Oi twat didder, Hannah wanted me to come get you and Dani for…” Owen swung the door open and stopped as he looked at both of them and the moment he had just interrupted. 

“Fuckin hell, Owen!” Jamie hissed as she pulled back, making Dani let out a soft moan which sent an electrified shock through Jamie’s body. “You see why I hate him now, do ya?” Jamie asked Dani, making her laugh, a small hint of frustration could be detected. She shut her eyes in hopes that Dani wouldn’t see the disappointment linger in them.

“We’ll be right in,” the words were directed to Owen but Dani never once took her eyes off the beautiful brunette in front of her.

“Right, sorry about that then.” Owen quickly backed away and closed the door again.

“He’s such a muppet that one,” Jamie sighed. She opened her eyes and swallowed what felt like a large lump in her throat when she saw the way Dani was looking at her. They both jumped when they felt a phone vibrate on the bench between them. Jamie looked down, thinking it might have been hers. She quickly realised it wasn’t when she saw “Viola” on the screen indicating an unread text message. Dani quickly locked her screen and looked up at Jamie, who was now frowning.

“Jamie it’s not what you thi-” Dani was cut off.

“Look, Poppins, it’s not my business, you don’t have to explain anything to me. That being said, maybe we’ll try again another night yeah?”Jamie tried to hide the disappointment she had felt when she saw Dani’s phone.

“Yeah alright,” Dani cleared her throat and forced a smile.

“It’s all good, another night.” Jamie smiled, not wanting to make Dani feel guilty for anything. She knew that they had discussed being friends with benefits so if Dani wanted to still be in contact with her ex, it was more than her right. “It’s all good,” she repeated softly, more so for herself than she did for Dani. She then got up from the bench, walked to the door and let herself in, leaving Dani to sit on the bench alone.

Dani sighed as she unlocked her phone and opened the unread message.

_ From Viola 9:23pm _

_ Dani, please answer the phone. I just want to talk. I know you don’t owe me the time of day but after everything we’ve been through, please at least hear me out. _

Dani bit her bottom as she reread the message over, and over again. She then locked her phone, not wanting to make a rushed decision, she decided to follow Jamie’s words.

_ Another night. _

  
  


A few days had passed and Jamie and Dani had barely texted each other. Other than some simple pleasures, not much was said between them. Jamie knew she was being stupid, she barely knew Dani and they weren’t together, not officially or unofficially even. In fact, she was the one who decided to take things slow with her in the first place.

So there she sat, her hands behind her head, laying on her bed staring at the ceiling. Wondering if she should just grow the fuck up and text her, ask to see her again. She let out a defeated sigh and grabbed her phone, unlocking the screen.

_ To Poppins 5:23pm _

_ Fancy a drink later? _

She hit send and waited. A moment passed and there was a gentle knock at her door. “Yeah, come in.” Jamie knew Owen had a lunch date with Hannah earlier, so she was expecting to hear all about it now. However, as the door opened, she felt her heart skip a beat as Dani stood in the doorway.

“I got your text,” Dani smirked, making Jamie laugh. "Owen let me in, I hope that's okay?"

“Well that was fast yeah?” She sat up on her bed and waved Dani to come in. She watched as Dani closed her bedroom door and stood there awkwardly, hands in her pocket.

“You can come sit y’know, I don’t bite unless asked to.” Jamie tried to make light of the situation.

“Right, I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to.” Dani situated herself beside Jamie and stared at the floor.

“Look Poppins, I owe ya an apology.” Jamie started to speak but was cut off by Dani.

“No, you don’t owe me an apology, I owe you one.” Jamie shook her head at Dani’s words.

“Don’t be stupid, I was the one who left you hanging that night. I mean fuck, we talked about being friend’s with benefits and then I get all freaked out when I see you get a text from your ex. I guess I was just disappointed,” Jamie sighed. “I really wanted to fuckin kiss ya and then Owen and his fat mouth walked in and ruined it. Then I saw Viola’s name on your phone and it just all seemed wrong after that. It just wasn’t the right time and I really wanted it to be-” Jamie was suddenly cut off as she felt Dani grab her collar and bring their faces closer together.

Their eyes searched one another as though they were looking for answers, for permission to close the gap that was keeping them separated. Jamie let out a shaky breath as Dani softly bit her lip. She brought her hand up to Jamie’s face and gently ran her thumb against her soft, smooth skin.

“Dani,” Jamie whispered, her eyes closed as she felt herself get lost in Dani’s touch, yearning for the long awaited kiss. Aching for it, really.

“Stop thinking so much,” Dani brought her other hand up to Jamie’s mouth, brushing her thumb ever so gently across her bottom lip. She rested her forehead against hers, and delicately closed the distance between them.

She moaned softly as she felt Dani’s hands move from her face and wrap around the back of her neck, pushing herself harder into the kiss, craving more.

“Fuck me,” Jamie mumbled in awe, her head spinning as she felt the tip of Dani’s tongue tenderly trace her bottom lip.

“I’d love to,” Dani whispered, slightly pulling back. Her eyes focused ahead as she searched the eyes in front of her for permission.

Jamie swallowed what felt like a large lump in her throat as she nodded in approval, not being able to speak as Dani’s hand made its way up her thigh. They closed the distance between them once more, this time not as gentle as the first. Jamie fell back onto the bed as Dani’s body overpowered hers. The kiss intensified as Dani begged entry, wanting and needing to know what her tongue tasted like. Jamie’s eyes nearly rolled to the back of her head as she felt Dani’s tongue bear down against hers, and then pull away as if she were playing hard to get within a kiss.

“God, Dani.” Jamie mumbled against her lips, somehow pushing herself deeper and harder into the moment. She felt herself grow weak underneath Dani’s touch. Jamie’s legs began to wrap themselves into Dani’s, wanting and begging to feel her closer. Needing any bit of contact she could get as she felt herself ache below for a touch, a kiss, anything at all.

Dani partially lifted herself off of Jamie, smiling as she heard the protests escape from her mouth. She sat with her legs on each side of her, straddling her. She bit her lip as she brought a hand upto Jamie’s neck and slowly ran it down her body, starting at the chest.

Jamie closed her eyes, she could feel her arousal intensify as she felt Dani slowly grind her hips into her, the centre of it all. “Oh,” was all she could say before she felt hands tugging at her shirt, demanding for it to come off. 

She obliged of course, as she lifted her body ever so slightly so Dani could remove it from her without asking twice. She trembled as she felt Dani’s bare hand run down her body and stop at her jeans.

“I want to see all of you,” Dani’s voice husked. Jamie’s mouth was dry so she nodded in return as she heard the desperation in Dani’s plea. Dani’s hands reached behind her, unclipping the back of her bra and softly lifting it, removing it from her chest.

“Wow,” Dani bit her lip. She brought her hand up to Jamie’s breasts, admiring them. She slowly ran her thumb over her hardened nipple in a circular motion, as if she wanted to trace every small and beautiful bump that was exposed from her excitement.

“Dani,” Jamie begged as she lifted her hips up, needing to feel more contact against her.

Dani wasted no time in meeting Jamie’s request. She removed her own shirt and sucked in a breath as she felt Jamie’s hands reach up for her, gliding down against her bare skin. She leaned her body back onto Jamie in an intensifying kiss as her hands made their way down below, undoing Jamie’s pants.

Jamie’s hips bucked, allowing Dani to remove them without trouble. Dani backed off the bed as she pulled Jamie’s pants from her, throwing them to the ground. She crawled her way back on top, between her legs.

Jamie closed her eyes as she felt Dani’s palm press against her centre, she moaned as she grinded her hips into her hand, begging for more release, and more pleasure.

Dani traced her finger up and down Jamie’s thigh, eventually bringing it to the tip of her underwear, tugging at the band.

Jamie knew how aroused she had gotten as Dani slid her underwear down her legs, letting her feel the wetness emit from them.

Jamie moaned as she felt Dani bring a single finger up to her slit and run it softly up and down, teasing her entrance.

“I can’t believe I made you this-” 

“Dani, please.” Jamie hated to beg, but god she was starting to ache, she needed to feel Dani inside of her.

Dani leaned forward and ran her lips against Jamie’s neck as she once against toyed with her opening, this time using two fingers.

“Fuck,” Jamie gasped as she felt Dani slowly enter her, the wave of excitement and pleasure coursing through her legs.

Her hips grinded into Dani’s hand as she moved her fingers inside of her, as if she was motioning for her to come. 

Dani closed her eyes as she listened to the little gasps and moans escape Jamie’s perfect lips. God if she really wanted to, she could come from that alone.

Her pace quickened as she felt Jamie’s breath do the same. Her hips moving in motion with her fingers, as they moved up and down against her walls.

Jamie reached forward, begging for Dani’s lips to be against hers as she got closer and closer to the edge. Dani leaned over and obliged, kissing Jamie as she ran her mouth down her body to her nipple, slowly massaging it with her tongue. She then smirked as she took her nipple into her mouth and sucked gently on it, pulling and tugging on it with her lips.

“God, I-I’m getting c-close.” Jamie moaned, her hips raised, begging to somehow feel more of Dani than she could already feel.

Dani continued to use her tongue to tease Jamie’s nipple as her fingers worked inside of her, now moving in and out of her steadily. She brushed her thumb against her clit, making it impossible for Jamie to not come.

“Y’yes, just like that,” Jamie’s voice raised as she felt herself get close, the pleasure started to slowly come and build its way up. Dani could feel Jamie tighten, which didn’t stop her pace, if anything it made her work faster. Eventually, with one final push inside of her, Jamie felt herself burst as pleasure erupted, starting from inside of her and running throughout her entire body. Her legs shook as she came undone. Dani continued to move gently against her, letting her ride out the pleasure until she eventually shut her legs on her hand, letting her know she had felt every little bit of release there was left to feel.

“Holy shit,” Jamie breathed out, her body had gone limp as she crumbled underneath the other woman. “You’re...you’re amazing,” she tried to catch her breath as she came down from her high.

Dani hummed as she leaned forward and brushed their lips together. “You are so fucking hot when you come,” she whispered, once again kissing her way down to Jamie’s neck. She gasped when she felt Jamie reverse their positions and flip her around so that Jamie was now on top, smirking as she looked down at her.

The bottom of her tongue trailed its way gently down Dani’s body, stopping at her pants, Jamie looked up at Dani, who was now biting her lip as she waited for whatever was to come next. Jamie slowly undid Dani’s pants and in the same motion, pulled them off and threw them over the side of her bed.

Jamie pushed her way back up the length of Dani’s body and brought her mouth to her ear. “I hope you don’t mind, but I just really want to fuckin taste you.” Jamie cooed, sending a tingle down Dani’s body, right to her centre.

Jamie slid herself back down, her nose grazing against Dani’s bare body as she made her way below. She gently tugged at Dani’s underwear before pulling them off, making Dani's hips jerk at the sensation of feeling Jamie’s breath trickling between her thighs as Jamie removed the only thing blocking her from getting the taste she so desired.

Jamie ran her mouth up Dani’s inner thigh, stopping at her wetness. She lightly guided the tip of her tongue up and down Dani’s opening, smiling as she felt Dani push down towards her, begging to feel Jamie’s tongue inside of her.

“God you taste so fuckin good,” Jamie breathed against her clit. This sent Dani spiraling as she let out a loud gasp, feeling a tugging sensation as Jamie took her in her mouth and sucked gently.

Her tongue dragged down Dani’s softness as she slowly slipped inside of her, licking all of the wetness that surrounded her. She once again took Dani’s clit into her mouth, sucking and tugging as she felt Dani’s hips move against her face.

Without any warning, Jamie slipped a single finger inside of her, twisting and turning as she continued sucking.

“Holy fucking shit,” Dani moaned, her hips moving faster and pressing harder into Jamie’s mouth. “Yes, yes just like that.” She whimpered.

Jamie obliged, she continued with her exact movement, sucking and tugging with her mouth as her finger dipped into Dani’s perfect folds.

“More,” Dani gasped, as she felt herself getting closer and closer.

Jamie didn’t need to be asked twice, she slipped in a second finger, moving faster and harder inside of her. Her tongue massaging and sucking her swollen knot.

Dani’s hips rocked harder and faster as she felt the pleasure build up in waves, until she couldn’t take it anymore. One final suck and push had her succumbing to her pleasure. Her hands wrapped around Jamie’s long curls, grasping at whatever reality she could to feel some kind of neutral ground as she lost herself in Jamie’s touch.

“Oh my god yes Jamie,” Dani yelled, her hands still gripped around a lock of curls. Jamie smiled as she kissed her way up Dani’s body, stopping at her nose. Dani’s eyes shut as she caught her breath. She opened them back up, her lip tucked under her teeth as she saw Jamie’s chin glisten with her sex. She leaned forward and grabbed Jamie into a kiss, tasting herself as if she were marking her territory, making it known that it was her taste on Jamie’s lips and no one else’s.

“Fuckin hell Poppins, why did I ever think waiting would be a good idea?” Jamie collapsed beside Dani, catching her breath.

“I have no idea, but I am so glad we get to do that whenever we want.” Dani turned on her side to face Jamie.

“No strings attached yeah?” Jamie asked, wanting to make sure they were both on the same page.

“No strings attached,” Dani repeated, feeling disappointment flow through her body as she repeated the words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is always appreciated, good or bad. Even pointers for writing smut, since like I said, this was my first attempt so I'm well aware it isn't the best. I just hope it wasn't too terrible! Cheers


	4. Chapter 4

The next six weeks went by rather quickly for both Jamie and Dani and in the blink of an eye it was already the middle of October. At this point, they had basically been together everyday at least once a day, tangled up and enjoying every minute they could have of one another. Hannah and Owen had started dating, which made things easier for Jamie and Dani as they would make plans based around where Hannah and Owen planned to be each night. This way, they were never risking interrupting each other. It was working well, they both followed their rule of no strings attached and according to Jamie, both women were content with the way things were. Or so it seemed.

Dani smiled to herself as she laid naked with Jamie, Dani’s head was nestled against Jamie’s chest and her arm draped over the other woman's abdomen as Jamie’s fingers gently traced up and down her back. Dani closed her eyes as she listened to Jamie’s heartbeat, finding it to be the most soothing sound she had ever heard.

“Whatcha thinkin about Poppins?” Jamie could tell something was on Dani’s mind, she had been much quieter than usual.

“How much I’ve really grown to like you,” Dani answered, looking up at Jamie to try and see her reaction.

“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t feel the same way,” Jamie hummed, leaning down and kissing the top of her head. Dani felt Jamie’s arms slightly tighten around her, which made her stomach flutter. “Who knew friends with benefits could be this beneficial,” she smirked, earning herself a playful slap from Dani.

“I’m serious Jamie, I don’t want to come off strong but I have never wanted to be around someone so much in my entire life.” Dani bit her bottom lip nervously, afraid to scare Jamie off as she knew what her thoughts were about commitment. “I don’t know what it is about you but I think I’m starting to fall for you,” she whispered.

Jamie’s heartbeat sped up as she repeated Dani’s words inside her head. She had basically felt the same way and although she would never admit it, Dani was all she thought about whenever they weren’t together, and she was the only person she cared to be around anymore, which was starting to scare her.

“Dani,” Jamie started. She paused as she thought carefully about her next choice of words. “This has been a lot of fun yeah?” She winced as she felt Dani move from their very content position, to sit up and look at her.

“Yes it has been,” Dani replied. “But I think we should have a discussion about maybe just admitting that we’re pretty much in a relationship at this point.” Dani was starting to feel exhausted from keeping her feelings pushed down deep inside to avoid a potential fallout. It was clear Jamie had felt the same way, anyone with eyes could see that.

“I just don’t want to ruin anything by complicating it y’know? I am enjoying myself so much with the way things currently are. Aren’t you?” Jamie replied, searching Dani’s face as she hoped she didn’t just ruin their night together.

“I’m not trying to complicate things?” Dani rested her head into her hands, shaking her head side to side in disappointment. “Jamie, you can’t lay here holding me in your arms the way you do and expect me to not think that you’re starting to feel the same way about me as I feel about you.” She knew Jamie was going to put up a fight, so she was prepared for whatever she was going to throw her way.

“It’s not like that. Obviously I have feelings for you, Dani.” Jamie sat up in the bed and went to grab Dani’s hand, frowning when she felt her pull away.

“Then what’s the problem?” The frustration in Dani’s voice was unavoidable.

“What if-” Jamie paused. The sadness hit her like a bunch of bricks, the thought of not having Dani in her life at all was something she didn’t want to think about. “What if we decide to take things to the next step and become official and then maybe the thrill and excitement just disappears? What if that thrill and excitement is exactly what’s keeping us both here, wanting to come back every night again and again?” She finished.

“Jamie, I can guarantee you that thrill and excitement are not what keep me coming back to see you every night,” Dani rolled her eyes. “There’s so much more to you, so much more to me, and so much more to us.” She felt her hands clench around the bed sheets as she grew increasingly irritated.

“I’m not saying there isn’t, but relationships can end badly yeah? Look at you and your ex and you two were together for six years,” Jamie shut her eyes in regret right after the words left her mouth.

“Are you saying you’d cheat on me eventually like her? I don’t understand.” Dani got up from the bed, and stood in front of Jamie, crossing her arms.

“No, god no Dani. I didn’t mean it like that-” Jamie wanted to undo what she had said but she knew it was too late.

“Look,” Dani shot out. She was at her wits end. “I’m not asking you to marry me, I was simply just suggesting we look into taking the next step, which is being with each other officially.” Dani grabbed her clothes from the floor and started to get changed. “I mean fuck Jamie, we’re clearly both in way over our heads with this thing.” She gestured back and forth between the two of them. “We can’t keep our hands off each other, and whenever I’m not around you it’s like I struggle to breath and I can’t explain what it is about you, but I know you feel it too.” Dani stood still, searching Jamie for answers, her heart dropping when she saw no reaction. “I can tell you feel it too, just by the way you hold me, or by the way you gently rest kisses against my back when you think I’m sleeping.” She finished softly.

Jamie’s ears developed a burning sensation as the rest of her face grew heated. “Look Dani, I don’t know what to tell you. We talked about not being exclusive from the first drink we had together. I’m just not relationship material,” Jamie frowned.

“A lot has changed since we had that first drink together,” Dani pointed out. She sighed and took a few steps closer to Jamie. “What we do every night, it’s not just sex Jamie. Tell me I’m wrong? Tell me that you get nothing out of it but a good lay and I’ll drop it right now and never bring it up again.” Dani pleaded.

“Dani, it’s not that simple. To me, this is about sex, but also about having a friend I can count on and lean on when I need to, no strings attached.” She gently reminded Dani of their arrangement.

Both women stood still, neither of them sure what to say or do next. Dani stared down at the floor, a few minutes passed and she sighed in defeat. “Okay Jamie, if that’s all you want then we’ll keep things exactly the way they are, no strings attached.” Dani’s voice sounded weak. “That being said though, I don’t think these sleepovers are a good idea anymore. They’re clearly giving me the wrong idea and are making me see things differently from what this actually is.” She hated the thought of spending nights without being able to wrap herself around Jamie, but she couldn’t continue to do things that would just make her want or crave something she can’t have.

“Dani, it doesn’t have to be like that.” Jamie approached the blonde and grabbed her hands. “I’m not trying to hurt you or make you think I don’t like you because I do. Can’t we just keep things the way they are? Why do we have to change anything?” Her stomach churned at the thought of not being able to sleep in Dani’s arms anymore.

“Because,” Dani paused. “It’s just sex.” She finished. She then left without another word, leaving Jamie standing alone, unsure of how it just went from being perfect to all wrong.

A few days had passed and Jamie had seen very little of Dani, sure they still got together a few times, but it was different now. Dani never wanted to cuddle after, in fact once they were done, Dani never wanted to stick around period.

Jamie stood behind the counter at her work, staring at her phone, debating what to send in a message to Dani.

_To Poppins 4:23pm_  
_Can I see you tonight?_

_From Poppins 4:33pm_  
_I’m going out with a friend later, maybe tomorrow?_

Jamie sighed as she read over the reply. She knew deep down inside this is what she asked for, so she had no right to complain.

_To Poppins 4:35_  
_Yeah alright, that works for me!_

Jamie nearly jumped when the door to the flower shop swung open. She rolled her eyes when she saw Owen strutting towards her.

“Why the long face?” Owen stopped in front of the counter, frowning.

“Just a bad day at work, had some shite customers that weren’t happy with their orders.” Jamie lied.

“That sounds absolutely dreadful, good thing we’re going to Hannah’s tonight to cheer you up!” Owen smiled.

Jamie slowly raised her eyebrow as she stared at Owen. “Yeah, I don’t think tonight works for me.”

“Tosh,” Owen quickly replied. “Hannah mentioned Dani is going out tonight anyways, so I figured we could play a few boardgames and have a few drinks or something and then when Dani gets back, we can all go our separate ways for the night. Hannah and I to Hannah’s room and you and Dani to her room.” He winked.

Jamie couldn’t help but think about how Owen’s idea wasn’t bad at all. If she was already at Dani’s house when she got back, she’d likely want to fool around a bit, especially if she had a few drinks in her. Drinking always got Dani hot and bothered. Hopefully if it ends up being late enough, Dani might want her to spend the night. Then maybe, just maybe things could go back to normal.

“Yeah alright, I gather that works for me yeah?” Jamie nodded. “I finish up in about an hour and then I’ll meet you at home.”

“Sounds like a plan, Stan!” Owen clapped his hands together loudly, out of pure excitement. “What are you feeling for drinks, Wine or Whiskey?”

“Surprise me,” Jamie shrugged. “I could care less as long as it does the job and take the edge off.”

“Whiskey it is,” Owen gave her a thumbs up. “Alright you wanker, I’ll see you in a bit.” Jamie watched as Owen walked away, feeling happy as her night was looking brighter already.

A few hours had passed and Jamie was now sitting at Dani’s place, drinking with Hannah and Owen. Her tongue poked out the corner of her mouth as she was deep in thought.

“Does your person have a mustache?” Jamie looked up at Owen, who was scratching his head as he looked at the cards in front of him.

“Define mustache?” Owen attempted to stall.

“Define mustache,” Jamie scoffed. “How about you get up and walk your arse over to the bathroom mirror and take a long hard look at the soggy mop hanging above your lip you twat?” Jamie nearly fell off her chair as she dodged Owen’s attempt to smack her upside the head.

Hannah chuckled as she watched both of them bicker about their Guess Who characters. “Come on you two, you’re nearly finished. Owen, answer Jamie or I’ll come over there and see for my damn self who your person is.” She shot him a stern look.

“Yes babe,” Owen huffed. “Yes he has a mustache.” He finally answered.

“Fuckin right he does.” Jamie smiled proudly at herself. “Alright, does your person look like Freddie Mercury?” She bit her lip in concentration.

“How the hell am I supposed to answer that? Just because he has a mustache he must look like Freddie bloody Mercury?” Owen snorted. “You really must be drunk to ask something as stupid as-” Owen stopepd talking as Jamie shoved her phone into his face with a picture of Freddie Mercury on it.

“Blimey, I guess he does look like Freddie Mercury.” Owen was in awe.

“Alright, I’d like to take a guess.” Jamie stayed silent for a moment before continuing, to drive up suspense. “Is your person Alex?”

Owen rolled his eyes and grabbed three shot glasses. “Yeah you fuckin cheat, you guessed it.”

“Yeah yeah, cheat my ass. I won fair and square, now drink up and don’t let it go to waste.” Jamie smirked as she watched Owen fill all three shot glasses.

Owen gagged as he swallowed each shot, swiftly and with very little grace. He looked over at Hannah, who had her hand pressed to her mouth, laughing.

“Aren’t you supposed to support me instead of laugh at me?” He pouted.

“Oh sweetie I promise, I have nothing but support for your drinking habits and inability to accept a loss at a children's game.” She smiled, earning a high five from Jamie who was getting out of her seat.

“I’m just going to go for a quick smoke, I’ll be back in five yeah?” She grabbed a cigarette from her pack and walked outside.

She sighed as she sat down on the bench, trying to keep her head from spinning. She had more fun than she had originally anticipated, unfortunately that fun involved a lot of drinking which was now coming back to bite her in the ass. She found herself growing increasingly impatient as she kept track of the time, waiting for Dani to get home. She puffed on her cigarette for a few minutes and nearly jumped to her feat when she saw car lights pull into their driveway through the fence.

She heard Dani thank the cab driver for the ride and saw his lights slowly disappear as he backed out of the driveway and drove off down the road. Jamie continued to smoke her cigarette as she watched through the glass door for Dani to come in. A few minutes passed and she saw no sign of her, which made no sense to her unless Jamie was a lot drunker than she had originally thought she was.

She put her butt out in the ashtray sitting on the table and just as she approached the door, she saw Dani standing in the hallway, her arm wrapped around another woman’s waist. Jamie’s heartbeat sped up as she saw Dani practically falling into this girl, her being the only thing keeping her up.

She wanted to make a move, to walk inside and hopefully discover that this girl was nothing but Dani’s friend who was making sure Dani had made it home safely.

However, that thought had quickly been erased from her head as she saw Dani lean into the mystery woman, pressing her lips against her neck, then whisper something into her ear.

“What the hell,” Jamie muttered to herself as she closed her hands into fists. She barged inside louder and harder than she meant to.

“Jamie?” Dani squinted as she watched her close the back door. “Oh wow, it is you! What are you doing here?” She asked, surprised to see her.

“Yeah, it’s me.” Jamie tried to play it cool, knowing full well she was the one who requested they stay non exclusive. She felt herself tense as she watched the woman beside Dani whisper something into her ear.

Hannah quickly got up from the table and walked beside Jamie, grabbing her hand and leading her back to where she and Owen were sitting. “Come sit, we are just about to start another round.” She smiled softly.

Jamie appreciated the gesture, knowing full well Hannah was trying to distract her from the view in the kitchen. “Nah, I’m okay mate. I should probably get going anyway. It’s pretty late and I’m pretty shit faced.” She gave Hannah a small smile, letting her know that she’d be okay.

“Leaving so soon?” Dani frowned, her arm still wrapped around the mystery girl. She must have noticed Jamie’s eyes travel between the two of them because she finally introduced the random girl to Jamie. “Jamie, this is Penny. We just met at the bar and had a lot of fun so I figured we’d continue the fun back here.” She looked over at Penny and winked.

Jamie felt her chest tighten, she knew she had to get out of there before she would do something she’d later regret. She looked at Penny and gave her a subtle nod. “Happy to meet you,” Jamie mumbled. “Right, well that’s about enough for me tonight. I’m pretty drunk and should head home.” Jamie slipped her shoes on at the front door and looked behind her.

“Thanks for a lovely evening, Hannah.” She forced a smile.

“Give me two minutes and I’ll meet you outside,” Owen got up and shouted.

“Owen you don’t have to worry about me, it’s not that far of a walk.” Jamie rolled her eyes, knowing full well why Owen wanted to leave with her.

“Yeah but you know me, I’ll just worry and it’s best I head home anyways. I’m about one shot away from getting sick, and I wouldn’t want my lovely girlfriend to have to witness that just yet.” Owen blushed as he felt Hannah’s lips press to his cheek.

“Okay, well I’m going to have a smoke outside so take your time.” Jamie had just about enough and couldn’t stand to see Dani hanging off the other woman any longer.

She opened the door and quickly shut it behind her, exhaling a long and shaky breath. She grabbed a cigarette from her pack and walked down the driveway.

“Hey,” Jamie’s eyes shut as she heard a beautiful familiar voice behind her. She turned around and saw Dani walking towards her, alone.

“What can I do ya for?” Jamie tried to hide her jealousy, once again knowing full well this situation was only happening because of her.

“Are you okay?” Dani frowned, as she slowly approached the woman in front of her.

“Yeah, just peachy.” Jamie brought the cigarette to her lips and inhaled slowly.

“Jamie, I never meant…” Dani was quickly cut off.

“Look, you have nothing to be sorry for yeah? You asked me to be exclusive and I said no, so you’re more than within your rights to see other people.” Jamie felt sick just saying the words out loud.

“True,” Dani couldn’t disagree with the other woman. She had begged to be official with her after all and Jamie was the one to turn her down. Dani paused a moment, deep in thought.

“Jamie,” her breath was shaky. She reached forward and grabbed Jamie’s free hand. “Just tell me you want to be with me and I’ll leave with you right now, I don’t care who’s inside my house. I will leave without a second thought if it means I get to go home with you and be with you.” Her thumb brushed against the back of Jamie’s hand. “You know what I want, I’ve never tried to hide that from you.” Dani begged, longing to hear the words come out of Jamie’s mouth.

Jamie wanted to say the words so badly, they were just at the tip of her tongue, sitting at the edge, ready to explode. _Say it, you fucking knob. Just say you want to be with her!_

A minute passed by, Dani continued to hold Jamie’s hand as she patiently waited. Her eyes filled with hope as she heard Jamie clear her throat.

“I…” Jamie paused, swallowing what felt like a large lump in the back of her throat. “I should probably get going, I don’t want you to keep your guest waiting.” Jamie’s heart broke as she saw Dani’s eyes fill with disappointment as she dropped her hand.

Dani nodded and left without saying another word, leaving nothing but her perfume to linger in the air as a vivid reminder to Jamie of how much she had just screwed up.

“You good?” Owen approached his best friend, frowning when he saw the regret in her eyes. Jamie started to walk down the street quickly, not wanting to draw attention. Owen quickly chased after her. “Come here,” he eventually caught up and grabbed Jamie into a hug and held onto her tightly as she let everything come out. All her pain, all her fear and all her regret. “You’ll be okay,” he whispered, his chin resting against her head, hugging her tighter than he was before.

“What is wrong with me?” Jamie cried out in frustration, angry for not allowing herself to be happy.

“Absolutely nothing,” Owen promised her. “There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re afraid to open yourself up because you’ve suffered through so much loss already. You’re just afraid to love someone because you don’t want to go through the pain of losing anyone else ever again. It’s completely normal.” He gently rubbed her back before pulling away. “Look, I’m the first person to tell you that you’re a dickhead and a wanker.” He smiled when he saw Jamie croak out a tiny laugh, “So listen to me when I say, nothing is wrong with you Jamie. But you also need to remember to truly love another person, is to accept the work of loving them is worth the pain of losing them.” He recited softly.

Jamie wiped the tears from her eyes and nodded her head in approval. “Where’d you hear that quote from, Sesame street? You fuckin Muppet,” Jamie laughed as she felt a hand smack her in the back of her head.

“You try to be nice and it doesn’t matter,” Owen sighed as he smirked at his best friend.

“No mate, in all seriousness. Thank you, I don’t know where I’d be without you. I know I give you shit, you know I love ya right?” Jamie grabbed Owen into a hug once again.

“Yeah I know, siblings give each other shit, it’s what they do. But you know I’ll always be here for you.” He smiled as he pulled back. “Now that’s enough sappy shit for tonight, let’s order a cab because I’m pretty sure at this point I’m freezing your tits off.”

Jamie laughed as she grabbed her phone from her pocket, noticing she had a missed call from Dani and a few missed text messages.

_From Poppins 1:48am_  
_Look Jamie, I thought about it and I don’t think I want to do this anymore_

_From Poppins 1:52am_  
_I can’t spend all our time together just wanting more. It's torture, it's like having you in my reach, but not being able to touch you._

_From Poppins 1:57am_  
_For Hannah and Owen’s sake, I still want to be friends and be on good terms with you. But no more fooling around, it’s just not enough for me anymore._

Jamie frowned as she read over the messages, feeling her heart drop to her stomach.

_Yep, that sounds about right._

The next day Jamie decided to throw all of her pain and frustration into her arrangements. It had been awhile since she focused on her work and truth be told, it was starting to show. It had been a busy day thankfully, giving her just enough time in between customer’s to continue her work to keep her mind off of everything that had happened last night.

Jamie looked up as she heard the bell from the front door go off. Her eyes fixated on a tall, younger woman. She had beautiful long dark brown hair, almost black and her eyes were this breathtaking green that Jamie had never seen before.

“Welcome,” Jamie smiled as she went back behind the counter.

“Hello, I was wondering if you could help me?” The woman asked, giving Jamie a soft smile.

_Wow, her eyes are fuckin gorgeous._

“Sure thing, you’re not from around here are you?” Jamie asked.

The woman smiled and lightly shook her head back and forth. “What gave it away, was it the American accent?” She smirked.

“I guess you could say that,” Jamie laughed. “Anyways, what can I help you with?”

“I am trying to apologise to someone, I made a terrible mistake and while I know flowers won’t make up for it, I’m hoping it will be a start.” She started to walk around the shop, looking at all the different arrangements.

“Ah I see, in the doghouse then?” Jamie tried to make light out of the situation.

“I guess you could say that.” The woman winked, causing Jamie’s breath to hitch.

“Right, well do you know what kind of flowers he or she prefers?” Jamie tried to play it cool.

“She,” the woman specified. “I have no idea what she’d like, we never really did flowers. I’m really not good with this sort of thing if you can’t already tell, do you have any recommendations?” The woman smiled and she began to look around. She looked as though she was trying to keep herself distracted, Jamie knew that feeling all too well.

“Fair enough. Well, you could go with a few different options here. You have your standard Roses. They are the most romantic way to extend your apologies to someone you’ve hurt. Red roses are a good way to express love, desire and affection to your lady love.” Jamie walked by the roses, letting the woman take a gander.

“Or you could always go with Lilies, they’d make a good choice. They stand for humility and devotion. That being said, you’d probably want to go with a light pastel colour if that were the case.” Jamie walked in front of the different coloured Lilies, showing off her hard work.

“Lastly, we have Tulips. They are related to new beginnings. They are essentially “happy flowers” and are meant to encourage feelings of joy in your life. But they also represent peace and forgiveness, so they’re the perfect type of flower to say sorry to your girlfriend….or wife.” Jamie found herself curious about this woman, and found her to be the exact distraction she needed to take her mind off a certain beautiful blonde.

“Ex, technically.” The woman corrected Jamie nonchalantly.

“Ah, sorry to hear that.” Jamie tried to hide the tiny amount of relief she felt. Maybe she had come off obvious because when she looked up at the woman, she could see her smiling at her, and this was the kind of smile Jamie was oh too familiar with.

“No need to be sorry,” she replied. “I think the Tulips would be a lovely choice, what do you think?” The woman came up closer beside Jamie, brushing their hands together. She was so close at this point that Jamie could smell the light perfume lingering from her neck.

“I would have to recommend the Lilies,” Jamie cleared her throat and looked up at the woman. “That being said, I would only recommend that if you go with the white pastel colour. White coloured flowers represent sympathy, virtue, unity and pureness of new love. They’re quite beautiful, actually.” Jamie’s eyes trailed down the length of the woman’s body.

“If you’re comfortable with talking about what the apology is for, I might be able to make my final recommendation based on how severe the situation is.” Jamie walked around the flowers, curious if the woman would answer.

“I made a mistake and cheated on her,” the woman replied.

“Ah,” Jamie was caught off guard with her openness.

“I just want to own up to what I did and hopefully get her back.” She sighed. “You don’t realise how much someone can complete you until they're gone.”

Oh how Jamie was aware of that. “Well good for you for owning up to your mistakes,” Jamie gave the woman a reassuring smile. “Well, my final decision is Lilies then.”

The woman nodded and followed Jamie to the counter. “I’ll just need a few minutes in the back to prepare them and make them look all beautiful for you.” Jamie left and walked back to the cooler.

She returned minutes later, with a beautiful arrangement in her hand. “Here you go, will you be needing delivery or are you wanting to drop them off yourself?” Jamie held the bouquet in her hands as she waited for a decision.

“It’s probably best if I do the delivery myself, wouldn’t you agree?” She smirked.

“I would definitely agree with that, but I am required to ask regardless.” Jamie smiled when she heard the other woman chuckle.

She finished ringing her up and went to hand her the arrangement. “Well, good luck! I hope it works out for you,” Jamie gave the woman a confused look when she didn’t grab the flowers. Instead she saw her reach into her purse and pull out a piece of paper.

“Can I borrow a pen?” She asked. Jamie obliged and grabbed the pen she had laying on top of the counter. Her head tilted to the side as she watched the woman scribble something down.

“If you need a card, we have some up front-” Jamie paused as the woman handed her the piece of paper.

“Maybe I was misreading the signals and if that’s the case, I apologise. But if not, here’s my name and number. As of right now I’m still single so you should give me a call and we can have a night out.” She grabbed her bouquet and then turned, she began to walk away but suddenly stopped and looked back at Jamie. “Just don’t take too long if you are interested, who knows if it’ll still be single in the next few days,” she winked. She then grabbed her bouquet and walked out the front door, leaving Jamie speechless.

Jamie felt guilt as she contemplated what to do. Clearly this woman was only after a one night stand and she would be lying to herself if she said she didn’t need to feel some form of release from how tense she has been the last week.

But then it hit Jamie, she laughed as she thought back to the sob story the woman had given her, telling her that she wanted to win her ex back because didn’t know what she was missing until it was gone. Seems like a load of shite now that she has her number sitting in front of her on her counter.

Curious, Jamie grabbed the piece of paper and opened it. She quickly dropped it back onto the counter, backing away in shock as she read:

_Viola_  
_434-654-8712_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we're getting into the angst of the story. I promise though, it will have a happy ending. I am off the next couple of days, so I hopefully should be able to update it another couple of times. As usual, feedback is appreciated and helps keep me motivated! Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

Jamie spent the rest of her day pacing circles around the flower shop, trying to wrap her mind around her earlier interaction with Dani’s ex as the piece of paper with Viola’s phone number weighed heavily in her pocket. _The_ Viola, who broke Dani’s heart with her infidelity, came to England to win Dani back, but not before hitting on Jamie first. She contemplated calling Dani and telling her everything, warning her of Viola’s audacious attempts to have another one night stand before winning her back. Jamie knew Dani was too smart to fall for Viola’s weak seduction, but they hadn’t spoken since Dani texted Jamie the other night and ended their friends with benefits agreement. Jamie understood she had no business interfering with Dani’s love life after she pussied out on a relationship with her, but the thought of Viola possibly convincing Dani to give their relationship a second chance turned her stomach into knots.

She grabbed her phone, still torn on whether she should send a message to Dani or not. Her attention quickly shifted when she saw she had a new message from Owen.

_From Owen 3:43pm_  
_Just a heads up, you’re joining me tonight for dinner at Hannah’s and Dani’s place. I already told Hannah you were looking forward to it, so too late to say no :)_

_To Owen 3:50pm_  
_You’re a rightful wanker I hope you know. I was wanting to avoid seeing Dani for the next few months, guess that isn’t an option with you and Hannah being together._

_From Owen 3:51pm_  
_Nah mate, you’re out of luck with that. Besides, I know that’s not what you really want ;)_

_To Owen 3:52pm_  
_You might want to remember all the embarrassing stories I can tell Hannah about you before you proceed with your thoughts on that, arsehole._

_From Owen 3:53pm_  
_Right, well I was finished anyways. I’ll come get you after work at 6 and we’ll head over._

_To Owen 3:54pm_  
_K_

Dani sighed as she dropped her phone on the counter and rested her elbows beside it, throwing her head into her hands. She had to make a decision if she should talk to Dani tonight or trust that Dani would make the right decision, and she’ll be damned if she knew which choice to make.

The last two hours sped by rather quickly and before Jamie knew it, she was sitting in a cab with Owen on their way to Hannah and Dani’s apartment.

“So, what has your knickers in a twist?” Owen broke the silence, eyeing his best friend who looked deep in thought.

“Nothing,” Jamie lied, shrugging him off. She didn’t want to involve Owen in her dilemma and risk causing any drama between him and Hannah.

“Ah yes, so your face looking like you’re trying to shit out a week’s worth of food is completely normal?” Owen rolled his eyes as he watched Jamie deep in thought, her face looking more scrunched together than usual.

“Shut up, you prat.” Jamie sighed and knew she needed to open up to someone, and Owen was usually the best person at giving her advice. “Fine, I’m going to tell you something and I need your help on what to do with this new information that has fallen into my lap, or rather onto a piece of paper that fell onto the counter at the flower shop.” The words left her mouth quickly, and she knew full well Owen could hardly keep up given that none of what she just said made any sense.

“Right, a bit of backstory would be helpful?” Owen turned toward her with intrigue, giving Jamie his full attention.

“Well, this really good looking girl came into the shop today to buy some flowers for an ex she had cheated on, to win her back,” Jamie stopped as quickly as she started, thinking of how to proceed. “So I mean, I may have flirted with her a bit.” Jamie ducked as she saw Owen throw his head into his hands and vigorously shake his head.

“No, no you twat! Why are you flirting with dodgy women when you have a beautiful girl wanting more than anything to be with you?” Owen was about ready to smack Jamie’s head, but refrained when Jamie began speaking again.

“That’s not even the worst part.” Jamie sighed as she reached into her pants pockets and pulled a piece of paper out. She handed it to Owen and watched as he opened it.

“Who’s Violet?” Owen raised a questioning eyebrow, making Jamie roll her eyes and grab the piece of paper from his hands.

“Viola, you fuckin git. Did you never learn how to read a bit of cursive writing?” Jamie waited for Owen to clue in, knowing that he was aware of Dani’s past relationship.

“Ah okay, so this random girl gave you her number? What’s the big deal, just throw it away?” Owen shrugged, not understanding the dilemma.

Jamie, knowing her best friend all too well, waited for a few seconds and rolled her eyes when she saw Owen’s jaw drop and eyes widen in horror.

“Oh fuckin hell, you mean...” He started but was cut off.

“Yeah, that Viola.” Jamie nodded. Now that they were on the same page, she was hoping Owen would have some helpful advice.

“So let me get this straight. You flirted with the ex of the girl you’re clearly smitten with, and then said ex gave you her phone number, right before telling you she was in England to win her ex back?” Owen tried to piece everything together but found the story to be completely ridiculous.

“Well...yeah,” Jamie’s lips turned downward as she remembered the interaction, feeling pangs of guilt mixed with disgust at the thought of what had happened. “Something like that.”

“So what’s the problem? Just tell Dani about what happened and make her aware so she doesn’t make a mistake and take this hideous trollop back,” Owen said confidently, as if it were the obvious answer.

“It’s not that simple, dickhead. Dani made it clear she doesn’t want to be involved with me anymore and how is it going to look if I tell her to stay away from her ex right after everything that happened between us? Even if I have the proof on this piece of paper, Dani is a big girl and she’ll most likely feel insulted if I tell her to do something she obviously already intends to do.” As much as Jamie refused to admit it, she truly did know Dani quite well and especially knew that Dani prided herself on making her own decisions ever since she moved to England.

“Right then, that is complicated,” Owen sighed. “I suppose you should see how it unfolds and if you think Dani is going to go back to her ex, then maybe have the talk with her?” He questioned more so than answered, being unsure of the situation himself.

“Yeah, I guess that’s the best option,” Jamie mumbled as the cab pulled into Dani and Hannah’s driveway. “Well, here goes nothing.” She could feel her nerves as she got out of the car and approached the front door with Owen.

The two of them stood there after Owen knocked, and waited. After a moment, the door opened and revealed Hannah, who was smiling at them both.

“Well if it isn’t my favourite person and Owen,” she winked at Jamie, making Jamie laugh when she saw Owen’s face scrunch. “Just kidding, hi babe.” Hannah leaned in and pressed her lips to Owen’s cheekbone. “Well come in you two, it’s cold outside and dinner is just about ready.” Hannah stepped to the side and let them both walk inside.

Jamie walked into the kitchen and felt her heart shatter immediately when she saw Dani sitting alone at the table, sipping on a glass of red wine with her eyes focused down at the tablecloth.

“Hey,” Dani’s voice sounded much weaker than Jamie was used to, breaking her heart all over again.

"Hey Poppins,” Jamie smiled gently. She wanted to act normal around her, in hopes that would help ease the tension and lift Dani’s spirits. “Looks like you started having fun without us yeah?” Jamie nodded towards her glass of wine.

“Sure, you could say that,” Dani smiled and her shoulders relaxed as she released her grip on her wine glass and rested her hands on the table.

Jamie exhaled in relief at the sight of Dani easing into her seat and the feeling of tension evaporating from the room. “Well, don’t hold out on me.” Jamie grabbed an empty wine glass from the table and sat across from her, extending the glass toward Dani. “Thank you,” she replied as she watched Dani grab the bottle of wine and start pouring some into her glass.

“So,” Dani sat back down and took another sip from her wine. “How have you been?” Dani’s eyes searched Jamie’s, almost as if she was trying to figure out if this was causing Jamie as much pain as it was causing her.

“Pretty good, yeah,” Jamie shrugged. “Just been working, it’s been pretty busy believe it or not.” Jamie grabbed her glass and swished the wine around inside, trying to avoid eye contact with Dani.

“Is Halloween a common time of year to be selling lots of flower arrangements?” Dani chuckled, finding it odd that it would be busy now rather than in a month around the Christmas holiday.

“Oh yeah, people love to buy flowers now so they’ll be dead by the time Halloween rolls around. That way, they work as a scary decoration,” Jamie smirked sarcastically.

“Wait, really?” Dani’s eyes widened in awe of Jamie’s revelation, completely convinced by her explanation.

“No Poppins, I’m fuckin with you,” Jamie laughed, a hint of satisfaction creeping in as she watched Dani’s face heat up with embarrassment. “I almost forgot how cute you are when you blush.” She took a sip of her wine and then nearly choked; the words had slipped out of her mouth so naturally she couldn’t catch herself despite knowing how inappropriate it was.

“Please don’t,” Dani frowned. “It’s not fair to-” Dani was cut off immediately by Jamie.

“I’m sorry Dani, I truly didn’t mean to. Just force of habit, it’s going to take some getting used to.” Jamie tried to smile apologetically, but it felt more like a grimace with how awkward things had quickly become. She kicked herself mentally for making such a stupid mistake. “It honestly just slipped out.”

Dani nodded and looked behind her as Owen and Hannah approached the table with four dishes. “Dinner is served,” Owen smiled. His smile quickly faded as he felt the tension around the table, glancing between Jamie and Dani uncomfortably.

“Right, well I hope everyone enjoys it! It’s a new recipe, Owen gave me some tips. Hopefully I make him proud,” Hannah said cheerfully, winking at Owen before taking her seat.

Everyone dug in once they were all seated, Owen being the first to comment on Hannah’s cooking. “Oh my lanta babe, this is so good.” Owen’s voice was muffled with his mouth full of food. He swallowed the massive bite he had taken and nodded in approval.

Jamie rolled her eyes. “Did you really just say oh my lanta, you twat?” she replied, making everyone laugh.

“Yeah, I sometimes forget how to speak when I’m around this beautiful lady.” Owen cleared his throat before drinking from his wine glass.

A few minutes of silence passed and Jamie could tell the tension in the room was because of her and Dani, which began to make her deeply regret joining them for the evening.

The tension broke when there was a loud knock at the door, and Jamie was relieved for the interruption. Hannah gave a confused look at Dani before standing up. “Wonder who that could be,” she muttered as she walked away.

Hannah opened the door and raised an eyebrow at the stranger standing in front of her. “Hi, can I help you?” she asked.

“Yes sorry, I heard Dani Clayton lives here. I’m wondering if she’s home?” the girl replied, a sultry American accent echoing from the doorway where she stood with Hannah.

The room stilled with silence at the sound of clanking from Dani’s utensils dropping on her plate, shock plastered across Dani’s face. Jamie looked back toward the entrance of the apartment in confusion and felt her heart speed up.

“Viola?” Dani asked in the weakest voice Jamie had ever heard in her entire life.

“Hi, I’m so sorry to just drop by like this.” Viola replied nervously. “Especially because I can see you’re in the middle of dinner.” She looked around the room, her eyes meeting with Jamie’s. Jamie watched as Viola’s eyes widened for a moment as she realized Jamie was the florist she’d hit on earlier. Jamie also noticed Viola’s grip around the bouquet of lilies had tightened significantly as her knuckles began to turn white from her grasp.

“What are you doing here?” Dani quickly stumbled up from the table, almost desperately. Jamie shook her head slightly at Dani’s reaction, surprised that Dani almost seemed glad to see Viola despite her shock at her ex’s surprise visit.

“I, um…” Viola started and stopped, taking a moment of silence. “I was hoping we could talk - I mean, I could talk to you?” She asked nervously, now avoiding eye contact with Jamie.

“I uh, I don’t know…” Dani bit her lip nervously, looking over at Hannah as if she was seeking approval. Jamie nearly wanted to hug Hannah as she noticed right away that for the first time since Jamie had met her, Hannah looked like she was ready to throw down.

“I know you don’t owe me anything,” Viola frowned. “I just…” She paused. “I couldn’t reach you by phone and I really needed to talk to you. I just want to apologise-” She stopped talking at the sound of a short laugh escaping Jamie’s lips.

Dani shot Jamie a glare, the look on her face reminding Jamie she had no right to comment or make a noise about the situation.

“Look, five minutes is all I ask. Then I’ll go back to my hotel and if you never want to hear from me again, that is perfectly understandable,” Viola pleaded.

Jamie turned away from Viola and Dani and rolled her eyes. She chuckled silently to herself at Viola’s attempts, knowing that Dani was too smart to fall for Viola’s sympathy.

“FIne, just let me grab my coat and I’ll meet you outside,” Dani replied, causing Jamie to nearly fall out of her chair.

Jamie looked back at Viola, who was now smiling. “Okay, well these are for you. They’re better inside than out in the cold.” She tried to hand the lilies to Hannah in an attempt to not overstep her welcome and let herself inside. Hannah made no movement, refusing to accept the flowers from her on Dani’s behalf.

Dani gave a small smile to Hannah, secretly happy that her friend was so protective of her. She walked over to Viola and grabbed the flowers. “Thank you,” Dani said, her voice barely above a whisper. She turned and placed the flowers on the counter, beside the vase that was currently holding a bouquet of white camellias that Jamie had given Dani a while back.

Dani quickly walked to her bedroom and caught a glimpse of Jamie, whose eyes pleaded with her to not go. She shook her head in disbelief, figuring she had to have imagined Jamie’s reaction seeing as Jamie rejected her, and continued forward to get her jacket.

The room stayed silent once Dani was gone. Jamie’s leg bounced aggressively up and down, catching Owen’s attention. “Now is not the time,” he whispered. He knew full well Jamie was gearing up to say something.

Jamie nodded and instead turned over her shoulder to look at Viola. She froze in shock as Viola’s eyes met hers unexpectedly, both of them refusing to look away. Jamie went to open her mouth but fell silent when she saw Viola’s face tighten, giving her a threatening look. A look telling her to back the fuck off or else. Jamie rolled her eyes, clearly Viola had no idea who she was messing with if she thought she could intimidate Jamie with just a look.

“Okay, I’m ready.” Dani walked back into the room, sensing everyone’s tension and wanting to end it all. She walked over to Hannah and hugged her. “I promise I’ll be okay, please don’t worry about me,” she whispered.

Hannah nodded and frowned as she watched her best friend walk out the door with Viola. The door shut and Hannah let out a shaky breath. “That woman is god awful.” She grabbed another bottle of wine and went over to the table. “I think we all need another drink.”

“Yeah I would definitely agree with that,” Owen nodded. He looked over at Jamie, who still had her eyes fixated on the door. “Jamie,” Owen grabbed her shoulder and shook her back to reality.

“Yeah sorry, a drink sounds fine.” Jamie cleared her throat and turned her attention back to her friends.

“Are you okay, love?” Hannah asked, her lips turned slightly upward with sympathy toward Jamie. She then poured her a full glass of wine. “Here, I’m sure you need it more than the rest of us.” She moved the glass across the table, placing it in front of the other woman.

“Thanks Hannah,” Jamie grabbed the glass and started downing the merlot wine, tipping her head back as she polished off half the glass in seconds.

“By this rate, we’ll need another bottle in five minutes,” Hannah chuckled, trying to make light of the situation.

Jamie couldn’t focus on anything else but Dani, still shocked she’d even bother giving five minutes of her time to her ex. “Do you think she’ll take her back?” Jamie wondered out loud.

“Oh love, we don’t even know if that’s what Viola is after.” Hannah raised an eyebrow when she saw both Owen and Jamie look at each other in fear. “What are you two not telling me?” Hannah glared.

“Nothing,” Jamie quickly answered.

“Posh, I know how you two are by now. Tell me,” Hannah was calm but firm.

Jamie let out a loud and frustrated sigh before she went into details, telling Hannah about their flower shop exchange and how Viola flirted with her and wrote down her number for her. Hannah listened, mouth agape.

“Bloody hell, Jamie, why didn’t you say anything?” Hannah was evidently upset.

“Because, I know Dani. I know everyone thinks we were just fooling around and there was nothing but sex between us, but it wasn’t. It was so much more than that, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself otherwise, and I _know_ Dani. I know that she values being able to make her own decisions, and me telling her what happened will only make her think I don’t believe she’s smart enough to make that decision without my influence.” Jamie grabbed her glass and finished off the other half of her wine, trying to numb the guilt and pain she felt.

The room went silent for all of five seconds. “Bollocks!” Hannah slammed her hand down on the table, making Jamie and Owen jump as she pointed her finger accusingly at Jamie. “You didn’t want to say anything because you were too afraid it would show Dani that you actually do care about her, because you’re too bloody afraid to just admit it to her, or yourself. You’re actually quite smitten, and that clearly scares you.” Hannah crossed her arms as she finished, making Owen smile.

“Hannah, it’s not that simple-”

“Yes it is Jamie, you like her,” Hannah insisted, cutting Jamie off. “You realise that this is the kind of like that will one day turn into love, and that scares the hell out of you. And I get it, trust me I do. I understand you’re afraid to let people in, you’ve lost so much in your life and the pain you feel every day is quite evident. But have you ever thought for a second that maybe Dani is exactly what will help keep your pain at bay? Have you ever considered that Dani would be willing to carry the pain with you, so it’s not so damn heavy on you all the time?” Hannah inhaled deeply, winded from her long rant as she tried to catch her breath.

Jamie sat there, head down. Thoughts ran through her mind at a speed she couldn’t comprehend. For the first time in her life, someone had called her out on her bullshit and there was no denying it any longer. Dani Clayton had made her feel things that she hadn’t felt in years, a feeling of happiness she never thought she could get back after the death of her mother. Any time Dani was around, the heaviness of everything she was holding onto seemed to almost disappear because Hannah was exactly right, Dani helped her carry the weight of her pain.

“Hannah, if you don’t mind I’d like to stay here until Dani gets home.” Jamie finally said, making both Owen and Hannah give a soft smile to each other.

“You know that is more than fine with me,” Hannah replied.

Jamie nodded and grabbed her drink. “I just need to clear my head, I’m going for a cig.” Jamie got up and carried her glass of wine outside with her.

She went outside and sat down, taking a deep breath in, letting the cool air clear her lungs from the regret she was aching to scream out. Time went by and Jamie was oblivious as it passed, her thoughts were so consumed by Dani and the way she felt about her that thirty minutes only felt like five and three cigarettes only felt like one.

Jamie walked inside and saw Owen and Hannah getting up from the table. “We’re just going to lay down, love. I’m afraid I’ve had too much to drink and am feeling quite dizzy.” Hannah rubbed the back of her neck, smiling as she felt Owen hold onto her, keeping her standing up straight.

“Yeah no worries,” Jamie smiled. “I’ll just watch something on the tele and Dani should be back soon.” The hope in Jamie’s voice was not something that Owen had heard too often, but something he gladly welcomed.

“If you need anything, just text me. I’ve got my phone on loud.” Owen smiled. “Goodnight, you knob,” he winked.

“Night, you twit,” Jamie smirked. She sat down on the couch and started to flip through channels.

Her eyes began to feel heavy as time continued to pass without any sign of Dani. She looked at her phone and read 12:45am.

Dani had been gone for two hours, so Jamie figured she would be due home any minute. And Jamie continued to tell herself that as every hour that passed was met with no sign of Dani. Eventually, Jamie couldn’t fight off the battle she had been in with herself for the last three hours and she drifted to sleep, figuring she’d wake up when Dani came home.

Jamie groaned as the sun beamed in her eyes, waking her up from her drunken slumber. She looked around, confused at first. Then once she realized how bright it was, she quickly grabbed her phone to check the time and read 7:45am.

Her attention was pulled to the hallway as she heard footsteps approaching. Hannah had walked around the corner, frowning.

“Morning,” Jamie yawned. “I must have slept right through Dani coming home,” she smiled.

Her smile quickly faded when she saw the look on Hannah’s face, a look of disappointment and concern.

“I’m so sorry Jamie,” Hannah approached the couch and sat down beside her. “She texted me late last night and I didn’t want to wake you.” Hannah explained.

“Where is she?” Jamie’s voice sounded broken, she already knew the answer but she had to hear it as a reminder to herself for why she never let herself fall for other people.

“She said it was too cold out and Viola had a lot to say so they went back to her hotel to keep the conversation private, since she figured we’d all still be awake if she came back over here. Then I woke up to a text message this morning.” Hannah paused.. “I think you’ll want to head home love,” Hannah didn’t want to finish what she was originally going to say.

“What did the text message say, Hannah?” Jamie felt sick as she saw the disappointment in Hannah’s eyes.

“She-” Hannah sighed before continuing on. “She said Viola is going to spend some time here while she decides what she wants to do.” Hannah rested her hand on Jamie’s knee, who quickly jerked it away

“It’s all good,” Jamie cleared her throat. She got up from the couch and refused to look at Hannah and let her see how weak and vulnerable she felt. “If she wants to take back that cheating slag then that’s on her yeah?” She wiped a tear forming in the corner of her eye, refusing to let it escape. “Right, well I should go.” Jamie got up and looked down at Hannah. "I”m just going to use the washroom, I need to piss like a racehorse.” Jamie tried to hide her disappointment in her humour, but Hannah wasn’t buying it.

Jamie walked to the washroom and felt the tears come out, refusing to be held back any longer. She cried silently, angry with herself for being too late and not admitting how she felt sooner. Minutes had passed before Jamie had finally composed herself. She washed her face, not wanting to leave any trace of what just happened. Once she was positive she was clear, she left the bathroom.

“Alright, well I’m going to head home. Tell Owen I’ll see him later,” Jamie smiled as she walked past Hannah.

“Jamie, don’t do that,” Hannah frowned.

“Do what?” She asked, pretending to have no idea what the other woman was referring to.

“Don’t be afraid to show us you’re hurt, we’re your friends and I may not know you as long as Owen or as well as Dani, but I still care for you. I am here and if you ever need to…” Jamie cut her off.

“I know. I’m good though, I promise.” Jamie didn’t want Hannah to keep pushing and cause her to have another meltdown. “I’ll talk to you soon, Hannah. Don’t worry about me, I’ll find another girl to take my mind off of things.” She winked, making Hannah roll her eyes.

Before Hannah could reply, Jamie was out the door and before Jamie was down the driveway, a cab had pulled up beside her. She nearly threw up when she saw Viola looking at her through the window.

Both women got out from the cab and looked at her. “Jamie, what are you still doing here?” Dani questioned, surprised by her presence. She had hoped she’d avoid seeing Jamie and having to face the disappointment she knew Jamie would have towards her.

“Got a bit too drunk, passed out on the couch.” Jamie muttered. “Have a nice day, ladies.” Jamie forced a half-smile and quickly walked away.

She didn’t realize she had started running until she heard footsteps behind her, chasing her. “Jamie.” Dani grabbed her shoulder, forcing her to stop. She was panting as she attempted to catch her breath, not expecting to have to run after Jamie.

“What do you want?” Jamie stared at the sidewalk, refusing to turn around and look at her.

“Why did you spend the night?” Dani asked again, hoping if she asked differently she’d get a different answer, an honest answer.

“I told you, I got too drunk.” Jamie replied.

“Jamie, just stop!” Dani yelled, completely throwing Jamie off. “She told me what happened.” Dani’s words surprised Jamie, forcing her to finally turn around and look at Dani.

“Yeah? What exactly did she say?” Jamie raised an eyebrow, shocked that the other woman had come clean.

“She told me how you flirted with her when she came to buy me flowers-” Dani was cut off by the sound of Jamie’s laugh.

“Oh this is bloody brilliant, go on. What else?” Jamie crossed her arms, itching to hear the lies Viola spun.

“She said that it wasn’t your fault, you didn’t know who she was at the time.” Dani continued. “But she said you flirted with her and that when she told you more about why she was here, it dawned on you who she was and you felt horrible. She mentioned she asked you to take her temporary number to pass along to me. Why didn’t you tell me she was here?” Dani was getting upset as Jamie continued to laugh, no other reaction coming from her than laughter. “What, did you think I wasn’t going to make the right decision so you tried to hide it from me?” Dani asked, exasperation in her voice.

“You’ve got to be bloody joking me, Dani,” Jamie stopped laughing as she realised how much of an effect Viola truly had on her. She finally clued in on how Viola had gotten away with cheating on her for six years.

“Jamie, I told you how much I hate people making decisions for me. And you don’t get to turn me down and then also decide who I can and can’t see. You either want me or you don’t! You do not get to tell me you don’t want me but then continue to act like you do.” The anger in Dani’s voice was growing by the second.

Jamie stood flabbergasted, she didn’t know how to respond to anything Dani was saying. She was so unbelievably caught off guard by the entire interaction and she didn’t have the energy to continue on.

“You’re right, it’s all my fault Dani. You’re a big girl who can clearly make her own decisions. I’ll leave you to it then, yeah? Maybe I’ll see you around,” Jamie sighed in defeat. She turned around to leave, refusing to give Dani any more of her pride and dignity as she collected the pieces of her broken heart and walked away

“Great!” Dani yelled. “Run away like you always do.”

“Not running, I’m walking.” Jamie yelled back, leaving Dani standing in the middle of the sidewalk with her mouth agape as Jamie continued down the road toward her and Owen’s flat, not daring to look back even once.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I know this is probably killing you. I won't torture you too much longer, I promise. That being said, feedback would be great! Thank you for reading and sticking through the heartache with Jamie and Dani. Cheers!


	6. Chapter 6

Ten days had passed, and Jamie hadn’t spoken a word to anyone, including Owen who was now sitting in her bedroom waiting for her as Jamie returned to their flat after a night out. She jumped when she opened the door and saw a tall figure sitting on her bed, realizing it was Owen when she turned the light on.

“Bloody hell, you muppet.” Jamie gasped. “Why are lurking in the shadows like a fuckin pervert?” Her words seemed a bit slurred as her body swayed back and forth.

“Because my best friend has spent the last ten days ignoring me. She won’t reply to my texts, she barely comes home and when she does, she runs straight for her room and locks the door.” Owen sounded quite upset, and Jamie knew he had every reason to be.

“Look mate, it’s not about you. You know this yeah?” Jamie signed, walking into her room and throwing her keys onto her dresser, but missing so they landed on the floor instead.

Owen rolled his eyes as he got up from the bed, picked the keys up from the floor and put them down where Jamie had originally meant to. “That doesn’t mean I don’t still worry about you, Jamie.” Owen had stood up and approached his best friend, bringing his nose close to her face. “Like Christ, you reek of booze. I’m pretty sure it’s been like this all week, if the empty bottles in the recycle have anything to say about it.” Owen pulled back and crossed his arms in disappointment. “Jamie, what’s going on? You have to talk to me.”

“What’s going on?” Jamie laughed. “Well as you can see I came home alone tonight. Turns out Claire was not wanting to continue the partying at my place,” she let out an over exaggerated sigh.

“Claire?” Owen muttered to himself, shaking his head in disappointment. “What are you doing with random girls when you have a beautiful American who is absolutely crazy about you and wants to be with you?” The anger in his voice was an indicator to Jamie to not press his buttons. Of course, she didn’t care.

“She made it clear when I left last week that she was wanting to work things out with her slag of an ex girlfriend. So no idea what you’re going on about?” Jamie glared at Owen, egging him on.

“Well she’s clearly only doing that because you won’t just admit you want to bloody be with her. I mean, she’s clearly desperate enough to numb the pain she feels if she’s going to back Viola, especially after she told her about what happened at the flower shop.” Owen stepped back in surprise as Jamie let out a loud laugh.

“Oh Viola told her about what happened alright,” Jamie rolled her eyes, walking into her room and sitting on her bed as she began to feel slightly dizzy from all the alcohol she had consumed earlier that night.

“Yeah, Dani told Hannah they had a talk about it. I couldn’t believe Dani even wanted to give Viola the time of day after all of that.” Owen shook his head in disbelief.

Jamie raised an eyebrow, confused at her best friend's words. “What do you mean?” Jamie had already heard the lie Viola spun, but to her it sounded like Owen had no idea.

“Well Hannah went to talk to her after you left, Dani was clearly upset when she came inside and we figured something happened between you two. Hannah went to tell her about Viola, figuring you didn’t and Dani explained Viola already told her about the flower shop incident and that it was a mistake.” Owen shook his head ever so slightly in disappointment.

“Yeah,” Jamie rested her elbows on her knees and her head into her hands. “I think you and Hannah misunderstood.” She raised her head off her hands and looked back up at Owen. “See, when Dani approached me about what happened she told me Viola told her I had flirted with her without realising who she was. Then when I finally realised she was here for Dani I felt terrible, so Viola said she gave me her number to me to pass along to Dani so that she would know Viola is in town.” Jamie still couldn’t believe the words as they left her mouth.

“Wait,” Owen paused in awe. “Are you telling me…” Jamie cut him off.

“Yes, Dani thinks I kept Viola’s number from her in order to prevent her from making a mistake, which upset her because like I told you all before, Dani prides herself on being able to make her own decisions.” Jamie groaned, tired of having to relive the entire situation over again.

“Well why didn’t you correct her?” Owen’s jaw dropped in disbelief.

“It’s not my fuckin problem to prevent that woman from making mistakes. Besides, I was a bit flabbergasted after she had yelled at me for doing the opposite of what I was actually trying to do. I was bloody hurt that she didn’t even ask to hear my side of the story, she just right away believed what Viola had told her and she went off on me, taking all her anger out.” Jamie could feel her throat clench as the tears started to form in the corner of her eyes.

Owen stood there silently as she watched his best friend struggle to keep her emotions inside. He frowned and took a seat on her bed beside her, putting an arm around her. “Jamie, I don’t know how much Dnai told you about Viola but Hannah had filled me in shortly after you left. That woman is so much worse than either of us thought.”

“What do you mean?” Jamie used the back of her hand to wipe the tears from her eyes, the concern in her voice didn’t go unnoticed.

“Apparently Viola is extremely manipulative. They were supposed to get married even though Dani never truly felt ready.” Jamie’s eyes widened at Owen’s words, having heard this for the first time that Dani was engaged to Viola in the past. “Dani just had no idea that VIola was manipulating her into everything she wanted. Her friends had tried to tell her multiple times that Viola couldn’t be trusted and that she was manipulating her. It was until they actually followed Viola around one night and happened to get a picture of her with another woman that they were finally able to make Dani see how fucked up she was.” Owen frowned.

“And that’s why Dani moved here,” Jamie whispered to herself.

Owen nodded his head. “And that’s probably why she is trying so hard to make her own decisions and be independent.” He removed his arm from her shoulder and rested his hand on Jamie’s knee, finally getting her to look up at him. “I know you care about her Jamie, you don’t want to see her hurt. She deserves better than Viola, she deserves to be with someone who will let her make her own decisions…” He cleared his throat and smirked, as if he wasn’t being obvious with what he was getting at.

“I’m an arsehole,” Jamie muttered, rolling her eyes when she saw her best friend nod in agreement.

“I’ve been trying to tell you that your entire life, you’re just seeing it now?” He smiled when Jamie smacked the back of his head, knowing he had done exactly what he set out to do. “Look, Hannah and Dani are having a halloween party with some college friend’s tomorrow. Why don’t you come and talk to her? Save her from the huge mistake she’s about to make.” Owen frowned.

Jamie could feel how clammy her palms had become. “What do you mean, what mistake?” She almost found herself not wanting to hear what Owen was about to say, knowing it wasn’t going to be good.

“Viola convinced her to move back home,” Owen replied. “She’s not planning on leaving until the term is done in December, but Viola has talked about sticking around until then.”

Jamie clenched her fists and walked over to her door, hitting it shut. “That fuckin trollop.” She let out a frustrated sigh and looked back at Owen. “Yeah I’ll be there tomorrow,” her chest heaved as she tried to calm herself down. “I’ll be damned if I let her hurt Dani again.”

“Good, then you’ll need a costume to hide that hideous mug of yours because I don’t think Viola is really going to let you talk to Dani alone if she sees you there, she rarely leaves Dani alone even when it’s just Hannah and I around.” Owen smirked as the perfect idea brewed in his mind. Jamie instantly knew she was in trouble when she saw Owen’s eyes light up and that devilish smile appeared on his face.

She knew she would regret asking but proceeded anyways. “What did you have in mind?”

The next day, Jamie groaned as she stood in front of her bedroom mirror and saw her reflection. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this. You and Viola must have been siblings in another life because I definitely feel manipulated now that I’m standing here, wearing this bloody thing.” Jamie’s hands messed with the long black dress she was wearing and slowly moved up to her face, touching her nose and mouth.

“Listen, you agreed that as long as I could sneak you into the party you’d wear whatever I picked out, that is not manipulation. I’d call it more so….” Owen paused as if he were pondering. “Extortion,” he smiled.

“But why this, out of all things.” Jamie groaned, looking back at Owen.

“What better way is there to hide your ugly mug than to replace it with a new ugly mug.” He laughed as he continued to stare at his best friend. “Besides, it’s honestly your fault when you really think about it. You were the one who called Dani “Nanny MCphee” in the first place. That’s clearly the only reason I even had the idea for this costume.” Owen couldn’t help but burst into laughter as he saw Jamie poking at the mole above her lip. Her hand then ran down to her mouth, touching the giant fake tooth sticking out of it.

“You’re a bloody nightmare, you know that right?” Jamie finally accepted her fate and walked away from the mirror. “Alright, well let’s get on with it then.” She sighed.

Owen and Jamie took a cab to Dani’s and Hannah’s place. Jamie could feel her chest tightening the closer they got to Dani’s house. Jamie had no idea what she was going to say, or what she was even going to do to begin making things right with her.

“You good?” Owen could see she was in distress from the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, just not sure where to even start with her.” Jamie frowned. “I have a lot to apologise for, starting with turning her away in the first place.”

“Don’t forget you also let her go two times after that as well,” Owen kindly reminded her.

“Yes, how could I forget.” Jamie rolled her eyes. She let out a shaky breath as the car pulled up in front of Dani’s house. “Well, let’s get this over with. Shall we?” She opened the car door and followed closely behind Owen.

“I already talked to Hannah, she’s going to make sure she’s the one who let’s us in. She said she literally had to give Viola a death glare when Viola tried to tell her to enjoy herself and that she’d be happy to let guests in,” Owen smiled. “God, I love that woman so bloody much.” His eyes shot open as the words left his mouth.

“Wow,” Jamie laughed as Owen stopped dead in his tracks. “And have you told her this?”

“Well….no because I just said it now for the first time.” Owen felt giddy at the realization.

“Well, looks like you’re going to have your hands full then.” Jamie started walking again, hoping Owen would follow.

“Right, well I’ll save that for another night.” Owen walked with Jamie to the front door. “I have a feeling shit is going to hit the fan tonight, and I don’t want that to be her first memory of me saying-” Owen was cut off when the door swung open, thankfully with Hannah smiling at them.

“Saying what?” She asked, raising an eyebrow when she saw Owen’s cheeks turn bright red.

“Nothing babe, I’ll tell you later.” Owen smiled, trying to act as natural as possible.

Hannah shook her head laughing but decided to drop it for now. She looked at Jamie and gave her a soft smile. “Hi love, how are you?” She walked outside and closed the door behind her, knowing Viola could be lurking around.

“Apart from having to wear this utterly ugly costume, I’m doing alright.” Jamie smiled back at her. “Also, I owe you an apology.” Hannah listened with a curious look on her face. “I shouldn’t have run out on you like that last time I was here, I know you were just trying to help.” Jamie had felt really bad about their last encounter, seeing as she actually really did consider Hannah a friend, always enjoying having her company around.

“Oh Jamie, you have nothing to be sorry for. I know you were only hurting, I took no offence to it.” Hannah grabbed her into a hug. Her body relaxed, which Jamie found quite refreshing as normally she was not really a touchy feely person. Hannah pulled back, with a frown on her face. “I’m so sorry about Dani, love. I really tried to talk to her about what had happened with you and Viola at the flower shop, but she appeared to have already forgiven her. I just can’t believe Viola has that much control over her…” Hannah stopped talking when she saw Jamie’s face drop. “Why do I get the feeling there’s something I don’t know?”

“Yeah,” Jamie sighed. “Dani didn’t tell you the whole story of what viola had said, from what Owen told me. See, when she approached me outside she had told me that Viola talked to her about our encounter but…” Jamie trailed off, feeling sick to her stomach every time she had to think about this encounter let alone talk about it.

“But?” Hannah crossed her arms, assuming the story was about to get much worse. She looked at Owen who then looked at Jamie.

“Go on, tell her.” He said in a reassuring tone.

Jamie took a deep breath before she continued on. “But, Viola had spun around the story and told Dani that I had flirted with her. Then when I found out she was here to see Dani, I felt bad about it so I agreed to take her number and pass it along to Dani and let her know she was in town. So now Dani sees it like I was trying to hide Viola from her and prevent her from making her own decision because I never told her about getting her number or seeing her. She thinks I didn’t trust the decision she would make.” Jamie could see the anger in Hannah’s eyes and she knew the other woman wanted to go inside and say something. “I promise Hannah, I’ll fix this. I’ll sort it out. I’m not letting that slag take Dani anywhere, she won’t hurt her ever again.” Jamie gave Hannah a stern look, putting a smile back on her face.

“It’s about time then, isn’t it?” Hannah replied. “Let’s go inside, before Viola wonders where I went off to. If she gets wind that you’re here, she’ll have her fingers wrapped around Dani so fast that none of this will matter.”

Jamie nodded and followed closely behind Hannah and Owen. Jamie looked around at how nicely decorated the house had looked. She looked along the walls, spotting all the cobwebs and spiders. Eventually, her eyes landed on the counter and she felt a sharp pain in her chest as she saw that the flowers she had gotten Dani were now replaced with the ones Viola gave to her.

Hannah must have noticed how upset this made her, she brought her mouth close to Dani’s ear. “I woke up to Viola throwing your flowers out and replacing them with hers. Dani had no idea, she even asked me if I knew anything about it.” She whispered. Jamie smiled at the other woman’s words, they definitely brought relief to her.

Jamie looked around the room and right away found Viola talking to a woman in the corner of the house. She felt her fists clench as she got ready to approach her. However, she suddenly relaxed as she saw a third person enter the conversation, with two drinks in her hand. Another smile crept on her face as she recognized Dani right away, laughing to herself when she realised she was dressed up as Mary Poppins.

“So what’s the plan,” Owen stood beside Jamie, looking straight ahead with her.

“I’m going to wait, and the second Dani is out of Viola’s radar, I’ll grab Dani and we’ll have a chat. I’ll tell her everything,” Jamie sighed. She grabbed a cup from the counter and poured herself some punch, keeping her eyes locked on Dani.

She couldn’t help but notice how unhappy she seemed. Her smile, although large, had a hint of sadness to it and it only made Jamie want to fight harder for her. She wanted to ensure that Dani would only ever be happy and she knew deep down inside she would never hurt her again. She has come to the realization that Dani is the best thing that has ever happened to her and her life has been complete shite without being able to wake up to her every morning, wrapped in her arms. Jamie never let herself be the little spoon in the past, but with Dani she didn’t mind one bit.

An hour and three drinks later, Jamie finally watched Viola leave Dani’s side. She knew now would be her best chance. She ran up behind Dani, grabbed her arm and pulled her to the side door. Dani gasped as she was being dragged across the room, not having any idea what was going on or who was dragging her.

“What the fuck,” Dani tried to pull herself away but immediately stopped when she heard a very familiar soothing voice.

“Relax Poppins, it’s just me.” Jamie muttered. Dani kept quiet and followed her until they were outside, alone.

“What are you doing here?” Dani shot out in a hushed tone, looking around her as if she would be in some sort of trouble for talking to Jamie.

“I came to talk to you,” Jamie frowned, reluctantly letting go of Dani’s arm.

“I don’t want to talk anymore,” Dani went to turn around but was stopped by Jamie grabbing ahold of her arm again.

“Dani, I know you don’t owe me anything right now but there’s something I need to tell you, something I should have told you already.” Jamie’s fingers slowly ran down the length of Dani’s arm and grabbed onto her hand now.

Dani quickly pulled her hand away, refusing to make things easier for Jamie. “Whatever you have to say, you’re too late Jamie.”

Jamie frowned and shook her head. “No, you don’t understand. It’s isn’t like that-” She was cut off by Dani.

“No, you don’t understand, Jamie. I tried with you, I tried to give you my heart multiple times and every time you turned me down like I was nothing.” Dani was shaking from how angry she felt. “Viola may not be perfect, and I don’t even know what our future holds. But what I do know is she came here, all the way to England to win me back, she took a chance even when the odds were low and she came here anyways. What have you done, aside from telling me you can’t be with me?” Dani’s words cut like a knife, Jamie knew she wasn’t wrong about her. But she also knew she wasn’t right about Viola either.

“Dani I know, but listen please. Viola-” Once again she was cut off but this time from someone new.

“Viola what?” Viola opened the side door just in time to hear her name.

“For fuck sakes,” Jamie yelled in frustration.

“Are you ever going to give Dani some space or do you have a fuckin tracker on her like she’s your pet or some shit?” Jamie couldn’t stop herself as she quickly approached Viola, her fists clenched and ready to start swinging if need be.

“Sorry, but some of us like to actually have Dani around so when she goes missing, yes I notice.” Viola stepped back a bit, caught off guard with how fast Jamie had just come towards her.

Jamie spat out laughter. “Blimey, you really are something yeah? Who the fuck taught you to lie like that?” Jamie could feel her heart race as she came closer and closer to Viola’s face, ready to pounce any moment.

Dani, knowing how hot headed Jamie could be quickly intervened by stepping between them.

“Enough,” she yelled. “I am no one’s property,” she glared at Jamie. “And I don’t need to be watched either.” She then turned to Viola. “I was done with this conversation the second we stepped outside Jamie, there’s nothing left to say here.” Dani grabbed Viola’s hand and opened the back door, stopping right as she opened it “I think it’s best if you leave,” Dani softly said, looking behind her and directly at Jamie.

“Dani, please.” Jamie pleaded.

“You heard her,” Viola turned to face Jamie, an ugly smile plastered on her face. She then turned back around and followed Dani inside, leaving Jamie alone.

Jamie’s head began to spin as she watched the only woman she had ever fallen for walk away with the wrong person. She grabbed her phone and sent a text to Owen.

_To Owen 10:23pm_  
_Did not go as planned with Dani, I definitely need a few beers...and someone to talk to. Come out back, I’ll be by the shed._

_From Owen 10:25pm_  
_On my way_

Jamie felt the damn tears start to form in the corner of her eyes again as she walked and hid into the darkness beside the shed.

Dani walked inside and grabbed Hannah’s arm, dragging her to their bathroom upstairs.

“What’s the matter, love,” Hannah asked, being thrown off by Dani’s actions.

“Did you know she was going to be here?” Dani asked breathlessly.

Hannah nodded, knowing right away who she was referring to. “Yes, but only because she had realised how stupid she was being and she wanted to set things right.”

“Well she didn’t, I wouldn’t let her. I don’t owe her anything, not after the way she has continuously turned me down. Plus, keeping the fact Viola was in town was just the last straw. She didn’t want me but also doesn’t want others to have me? Completely ridiculous.” Dani brought her hands to her face and sighed into them.

“Dani, listen to me.” Hannah tried to calm her friend down, she brought her hands to her shoulders and looked straight into her eyes. “Jamie was only trying to tell you the truth about what happened with Viola. I understand you are upset, but what happened with Viola is not what Jamie told Owen and I.”

“What do you mean?” Dani raised an eyebrow.

“After you left with Viola that night, to go talk. Jamie told me she was worried about you and when I asked why, she told me Viola came to the flower shop earlier that day and purchased flowers. She admitted to flirting with Viola, but only because Viola flirted with her first. And she didn’t find out who Viola was until after she wrote her phone number down for Jamie. She told her to call as soon as possible because she wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be single for.” Hannah frowned as she watched Dani slowly sit down on the toilet seat. “Viola had no idea who Jamie was until she saw her sitting at the table when she came to see you.”

“I- can’t...why...why didn’t she say anything?” Dani could hardly form a sentence as she sat there in disbelief.

“She trusted that you would turn Viola down, so she didn’t feel like she had to upset you with that information and-” Hannah paused, knowing the next part was really going to sting for Dani.

“And what?” Dani asked, her voice sounding so small.

Hannah sighed before she continued on. “And Jamie stayed over that night because she was going to tell you how…” Hannah paused as she thought for a moment. “I don’t think this is my place to say, Dani. I think you need to talk to Jamie, hear her out.” Hannah gave Dani a small smile.

“I- I should go find her. I sent her home and oh god I accused her of doing the complete opposite of what she had actually done, which is trust that I’d make the right decision…” Dani started to panic at the thought of having to face Viola with this new information. “I need to find Jamie.”

“Well lucky for you, I just got a text from Owen not long ago that he is keeping Jamie company outside to try and cheer her up.” Hannah slowly opened the door and stood to the side to allow Dani to exit.

Dani nodded her head slowly. “Can we just sit in here for a bit longer though? I need to wrap my head around everything.” Dani asked.

“Of course, love.” Hannah closed the door again and sat on the bathroom counter, resting her hand on top of Dani’s shoulder.

Jamie sat on the ground with her head on Owen’s shoulder as she drank her last beer and thought about all the events that took place in the last week. She thought how it was only a week ago she had Dani in her bed and they were wrapped up in each other, naked and only wanting to be in that moment. Neither of them needed or wanted anything else, only each other. But now, she can’t even get Dani to look at her let alone talk to her.

“You alright?” Owen whispered, he could feel Jamie start to shake from the cold air. They had been outside for at least thirty minutes and truth be told, Owen was starting to feel quite chilly himself.

“Yeah, I just wanna stay out here for a little longer.” Jamie sighed.

Owen went to reply but went silent as he heard the back door open and two female voices, He was not wanting to draw attention to them.

Jamie sat up as she heard a familiar voice echo through the air. _Viola_

“Shhh we have to be quiet,” Viola chuckled.

“It’s bloody cold outside, can’t we just go into a bathroom.” An unfamiliar female voice rang through this time.

“We can’t, I already told you no one can see us-” The familiar voice started to speak but was cut off and met with silence. Jamie’s ears perked up as she heard what sounded like two people kissing. She sat perfectly still as two women stumbled their way into Jamie’s and Owen’s direction, kissing each other and clearly not paying attention to their surroundings.

“God you’re so hot,” Viola moaned against the random girl's lips.

Jamie right away noticed the other woman with Viola from earlier. It was the woman Viola was talking to in the corner of the room. “For fuck sakes,” Jamie couldn’t stop herself this time even if she wanted to, which of course she didn’t. Without thinking, she got up from the ground and grabbed Viola by the back of her jacket, and threw her up against the shed.

Owen immediately got up and attempted to pull Jamie off of the other woman, surprisingly having no luck as Jamie refused to budge.

“Jamie what the-” Viola choked out as she felt Jamie’s forearm against her chest, pushing her back harder against the shed.

“How fucking dare you,” Jamie yelled. She had never felt so angry in her entire life. She continued to press her forearm into Viola, not even caring how much she was hurting her.

Dani walked outside and immediately saw Jamie, with Viola pinned against her shed. She went to interfere but was stopped by Hannah. “Just wait, love.” Hannah whispered as she saw Jamie finally loosen her grip and pull her forearm back.

“You fuckin hag,” Jamie spat out.

“This is none of your fucking business.” Viola yelled back, trying to gather herself as she almost lost her footing.

“None of my fuckin business?” Jamie laughed sarcastically and shoved Viola back towards the shed.

“Jamie, enough.” Owen rested his hand on her shoulder and she immediately brushed it away.

“No, because you know what? Someone has to teach this fuckin cunt a thing or two about commitment. You all thought I was bad?” Jamie looked over at Owen and laughed again in disbelief as she tried to catch her breath. She then brought her attention back to Viola and slammed her hand against the shed right beside her face, making the other woman jump. “You….you have the best fucking person in this world and this is how you treat her?” Jamie breathed heavily as she felt her anger only continue to grow.

“That woman,” Jamie pointed towards the house but kept her eyes planted on Viola. “That perfect and beautiful woman agreed to take you back, after you were already dumb enough to cheat on her once.” Jamie closed her hand that was pressed against the shed into a fist, right beside Viola’s head. “Then you have a second chance, and this is how you treat her? Fuck me,” Jamie pushed herself off the shed and ran her hands through her hair in frustration.

“God Viola, let me tell you a thing or two about Dani because you clearly need to hear this.” Jamie grabbed a hold of Viola’s jacket again and pointed a finger in her face using her other hand. “She is the most beautiful, selfless, funny and kind human being I have ever met.” Jamie bit her lip, almost as if she was wondering if she should continue on.

“We were seeing each other before you came around and fucked everything up…” Jamie paused and pulled her hand away. “Before I fucked everything up.” She corrected herself. “I’ve always been afraid of commitment and falling in love and when I realised…” She paused again, feeling ashamed of how she previously handled the situation. “When I realised what Dani meant to me, I got scared. She asked me to take a step forward with her and I took a step back. I’ve never regretted something more in my life. All because I was scared….” She took a deep breath. Jamie could feel the tears forming in her eyes yet again as she remembered all the pain she caused Dani.

Dani listened at a distance, her heart racing as she heard Jamie speak about her.

“I promised myself that if I ever got a second chance to make things right, a second chance to be with Dani. Not just sleep with her,” Jamie pointed out in case it wasn’t already obvious. “No, to _actually_ be with her. I would never hurt her again, I promised that I would only ever want to make her laugh because nothing is better than that woman’s laugh.” Jamie looked at Owen, giving him a soft smile. “I promised I would spend every day appreciating her, making sure she knows how wanted and perfect she is. Then you…” Jamie feels the anger start to rise up inside her again. “Then you come to England to what? Win her back so you can break her heart again? What is wrong with you?” Jamie stays silent, waiting for an answer.

Viola stood still, refusing to say a word.

“I should be beating you to a bloody pulp for what you did to her.” Jamie clenched her fists, making Viola back up into the shed, this time on her own accord. “If it wasn’t for Dani, I probably would be right now. But even just the thought of Dani makes me feel calm. I spent most of my life feeling angry, scared and stressed and then Dani came into my life for all of six weeks and just like that, no more anger, fear or stress...it all just disappeared.” Jamie loosened her fists, relaxing her hands. “Actually that’s a lie.” She looked at Owen once again, who nodded at her to keep going, knowing full well Dani was nearby and listening. “I was still scared, but this time it was a different type of fear. I was scared of my feelings and how quickly I was falling in love with her. I didn’t know what to do so I pushed her away like a fuckin wanker and now-.” Jamie was cut off by a body crashing into her, knocking her against the shed this time.

Her immediate thought was that Viola had finally grown a pair, then she realised that wasn’t the case when she felt lips moving against hers. She knew right away those lips belonged to Dani. She moaned quietly as she felt Dani against her, refusing to break the kiss. Her mind was blank as she immersed herself in every second, every taste and every touch of Dani’s lips. Her hands wrapped around Dani’s waist and pushed her body closer, needing to feel as much contact as possible to make up for having none with her for the last two and a half weeks.

After a minute, Dani finally broke free and rested her forehead against Jamie’s, taking a deep breath. “Did you mean what you said?” Dani whispered, her eyes remained shut as she soaked in the feeling of Jamie’s hands still grasping at her hips.

“Every fuckin word, Poppins.” Jamie smiled, rubbing her nose against Dani’s. “I know it’s fast and probably crazy so it’s okay if you don’t feel the same way, but I’m actually pretty in love with you it turns out.” She gently brushed a strand of Dani’s long blonde hair out of her face and pushed it behind her ear.

“Good,” Dani whispered. “Because I’m pretty in love with you too, so we’re kind of in the same boat then.” She smiled as she gently pressed her lips to Jamie’s once again.

“Oi, love birds.” Owen leaned in beside them and whispered, catching both of their attention. “There’s sort of a bunch of people watching you right now.” He smirked when he heard Jamie groan.

“You’re such a git,” Jamie bit her bottom lip as she heard Dani laugh, loving every second she got to hear it. Dani sighed and pulled back from Jamie, grabbing her hands.

Dani looked beside her and saw Viola staring at them both. “I think this is your queue to leave,” Dani glared at her.

“I’m so sorry, Dani.” VIola frowned.

“Yeah I don’t care, take your apology back to America. I have everything I need right here,” she looked back at Jamie and smiled. Viola nodded and silently walked away.

“Right, well we should probably give these two a bit of privacy and go back inside,” Owen yelled out to everyone, winking at Dani and Jamie.

Dani stood silent as she stared at Jamie. Suddenly she laughed, her eyes refusing to move away from her.

“What’s so funny?” Jamie smiled, just the sound of Dani’s laugh was enough to lift her spirits.

“Are you…” Dani paused and started laughing again as she continued to look at Jamie, her eyes moving up and down the length of her body.

“Am I what?” Jamie raised an eyebrow.

“Are you dressed as Nanny Mcphee?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it! I may add an epilogue, to have a chapter of just fluff and maybe show where they're at in a year or so.
> 
> As always, thanks for reading! Cheers

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed reading the first chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Feedback is always welcome and appreciated.
> 
> This will be a slower build up to their relationship, and possibly eventual smut (if I can convince myself to write it).


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